Corporate airline agreements
generally are considered by occasional European business travelers to be less
important than schedule, price, loyalty programs, airport proximity and airline
services when choosing an airline, according to a poll released last month by
U.K. research firm ComRes.
In the Delta Air
Lines-sponsored March survey of roughly 500 business travelers each in Britain,
France, Germany and Spain, 45 percent of British respondents said corporate
agreements were "fairly" or "very" important in their
decisions about which airline to fly, ahead of the 42 percent of Germans but
well behind the 60 percent of French and 72 percent of Spanish respondents who
said the same.
Meanwhile, the poll found
that 36 percent of British, 45 percent of Spanish, 47 percent of French and 53
percent of German business travelers "generally fly with a specific
airline alliance." Business class was roughly even with economy as the most
common class-of-service choice for long-haul flights among respondents,
followed by premium economy, which was more popular than first class.
A majority of survey
participants from each nation said they "usually try to catch up on your
work during a business flight" with the exception of just 44 percent of
Germans. Two-thirds of Spanish business travelers typically burn the airtime
oil.
Respondents averaged about
four trips per year.