AAM Awareness Survey Analysis Report - Infotap

AAM Awareness Survey Analysis Report

January 28, 2026 — February 20, 2026 | Generated February 23, 2026
3,284
Total Respondents
3,280 unique visitors
76.2%
Completion Rate
2,504 completed
±1.71%
Margin of Error
at 95% confidence
28s
Median Completion
avg 30s
38.6%
Likely to Travel by AAM
"Likely" + "Very likely"

1. Executive Summary

This report analyzes 3,284 survey responses collected at an airport between January 28, 2026 and February 20, 2026 to gauge public awareness and sentiment toward Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The survey achieved a statistically significant sample with a margin of error of ±1.71% at a 95% confidence level against a population of 9,400,000.

Low Pre-Existing Awareness

1,765 respondents (66%) had no prior awareness of AAM. Only 16% were "Very familiar."

Majority Unlikely to Travel by AAM

61.4% of respondents indicated they are "Not likely" or "Not at all" likely to travel by AAM, suggesting significant public hesitancy remains.

Familiarity Drives Willingness

Among those "Very familiar" with AAM, 328 out of 426 (77%) said "Likely" or "Very likely" — a strong signal that education moves the needle.

Top Open-Ended Themes

Cost/pricing and safety were the top concerns raised in free-text responses, together accounting for over a third of all themed feedback.

2. Statistical Overview

Sample Size (n)3,284
Population Size (N)9,400,000
Response Rate0.0349%
Confidence Level95%
Z-Score1.96
Margin of Error±1.71%
Significance Rating Excellent
Min Sample for ±5%385
Completed Responses2,504
Incomplete Responses780

With 3,284 respondents from a population of 9,400,000, the survey achieves a margin of error of ±1.71% at a 95% confidence level, which is rated Excellent. The minimum sample size for a ±5% margin of error is 385, which this survey exceeds significantly.

3. Response Funnel Analysis

The funnel below shows how many unique respondents answered each question. "Age Range" serves as the baseline (first question), with subsequent questions showing drop-off relative to total respondents.

Age Range
3,284 (100.0%)
Traveler Type
3,137 (95.5%)
Gender
2,751 (83.8%) ⚠️ -11.8%
AAM Familiarity
2,681 (81.6%)
AAM Info Slide
2,804 (85.4%)
Likelihood to Travel
2,615 (79.6%) ↓ -5.8%
Airline
2,559 (77.9%)
Open-Ended Feedback
1,450 (44.2%) ⚠️ -33.8%

The most significant drop-off occurs at the optional open-ended question, where only 44.2% of respondents participated — expected for an optional free-text field. The gender question also shows notable attrition (83.8%) compared to age (100%), suggesting some respondents skip demographic profiling. Overall, the core survey questions maintain strong completion rates above 77%.

4. Timing Metrics

Survey-Level Timing

Mean Completion30.4s
Median Completion27.9s
Std Deviation24.6s
Fastest0.2s
Slowest (≤10min)578.5s
Valid Timing Records3,279

Per-Question Timing

Age Range3.3s (avg 3.8s)
Describes You2.0s (avg 2.8s)
AAM Familiarity4.5s (avg 5.1s)
Likelihood4.5s (avg 5.2s)
Airline2.6s (avg 3.1s)
Open-Ended2.9s (avg 5.0s)

The median survey completion time of 28 seconds indicates a fast, efficient survey experience suitable for an airport environment. Most individual questions are answered within 2–5 seconds, with the open-ended question taking the longest at a median of ~3 seconds (many respondents quickly skipped or typed brief entries).

5. Question-by-Question Analysis

Q1: Age Range

Respondents span all age groups, with the largest cohort being 35–44 (21.9%), followed by 26–34 (20.0%) and 45–54 (18.0%). The survey captures a broad cross-section of travelers.

Under 16
84 (2.6%)
16 - 21
238 (7.2%)
22-25
290 (8.8%)
26-34
658 (20.0%)
35 - 44
719 (21.9%)
45-54
591 (18.0%)
55-64
405 (12.3%)
65-75
212 (6.5%)
76+
87 (2.6%)

Q2: Traveler Type

Business travelers make up the largest segment (51.9%), followed by leisure travelers (37.5%). Employees/tenants and meeters/greeters are smaller segments.

Business Traveler
1,630 (51.9%)
Leisure Traveler
1,176 (37.5%)
Employee / Tenant
232 (7.4%)
Meeter / Greeter
102 (3.2%)

Q3: Gender

Male
1,489 (54.5%)
Female
1,156 (42.3%)
Prefer not to share
89 (3.3%)

Q4: Pre-Existing AAM Familiarity

A striking 65.7% of respondents had no prior awareness of AAM. Only 16.2% self-identified as "Very familiar," suggesting AAM is largely unknown to the traveling public.

Not aware
1,765 (65.7%)
Aware, with limited knowledge
172 (6.4%)
Somewhat familiar
314 (11.7%)
Very familiar
435 (16.2%)

Q5: Likelihood to Travel by AAM

After receiving brief information about AAM, 38.6% of respondents indicated they would be "Likely" or "Very likely" to travel by AAM, while 61.4% leaned negative. This split highlights both the challenge and the opportunity in AAM adoption.

Very likely
354 (13.5%)
Likely
660 (25.1%)
Not likely
859 (32.7%)
Not at all
752 (28.6%)

Q6: Airline

Delta and American dominate, together accounting for over 62% of respondents. This reflects the airline mix at the surveyed airport.

Delta
870 (33.7%)
American
761 (29.5%)
United
343 (13.3%)
Frontier
201 (7.8%)
Southwest
147 (5.7%)
Allegiant
147 (5.7%)
Other
65 (2.5%)
Alaska
19 (0.7%)
British Airways
17 (0.7%)
Breeze
13 (0.5%)

6. Key Cross-Tabulation: Familiarity × Likelihood

This table reveals a critical insight: familiarity with AAM is the strongest predictor of willingness to travel by AAM. Among the "Very familiar" group, the majority expressed positive travel intent, while the "Not aware" group overwhelmingly leaned negative.

Familiarity \ LikelihoodNot at allNot likelyLikelyVery likelyTotal
Not aware663 (39%)618 (36%)358 (21%)70 (4%)1,709
Aware, with limited knowledge14 (9%)103 (63%)38 (23%)9 (5%)164
Somewhat familiar33 (11%)73 (24%)183 (60%)16 (5%)305
Very familiar36 (8%)62 (15%)73 (17%)255 (60%)426

Key Takeaway: Education and awareness campaigns have significant potential to shift public willingness toward AAM. The data shows a clear "awareness → interest" pipeline: as familiarity increases, likelihood to travel by AAM rises substantially.

7. Open-Ended Feedback Insights

121 substantive responses were collected from the optional free-text question. After removing non-responses and gibberish, the feedback was analyzed for thematic patterns.

Theme Distribution

Cost & Pricing
31 (35.2%)
Safety Concerns
19 (21.6%)
Routes & Destinations
10 (11.4%)
Timing & Availability
8 (9.1%)
Clarity & Understanding
7 (8.0%)
Comfort & Capacity
4 (4.5%)
Regulation & Oversight
3 (3.4%)
Pilot & Training
2 (2.3%)
Environmental & Energy
2 (2.3%)
Infrastructure
2 (2.3%)

+ 60 responses classified as "Other" (misc. comments, gibberish, off-topic)

Sentiment Overview

The vast majority of open-ended responses (95.7%) were neutral inquiries — questions rather than opinions. This is consistent with the question prompt asking respondents to share questions they have about AAM. The inquiring tone suggests genuine curiosity alongside uncertainty.

Key Themes Summary

Cost & Pricing (21.7%) was the dominant theme. Respondents want to understand how AAM pricing compares to traditional air travel and whether it will be accessible or premium-only. Representative questions included affordability concerns and comparisons to commercial flight pricing.

Safety Concerns (13.3%) was the second most frequent theme. Respondents asked about safety records, regulatory oversight, and how AAM compares to conventional aviation in terms of risk. Several respondents specifically referenced concerns about smaller aircraft safety records.

Routes & Destinations (7.0%) and Timing & Availability (5.6%) indicate respondents want concrete, practical details about where and when AAM will be available. Many are still unclear on the basic operational model.

Notable Respondent Quotes

"Trade offs between the fuel or energy cost and the output or pollution compared to the actual reduction in ground travel. Also, what is the realistic affordability of transportation like this?"
"How safe is it compared to traditional air travel or ground travel? What safety data is available and how has it been collected?"
"Only six people seems very inefficient. Why not expand the subway tunnels, or make sure the escalators and moving walkways are being constantly maintained so there are no bottlenecks."
"Information presented is lacking. Unclear as to when it would be used. Some examples would be helpful."

Translation Log

No non-English responses were detected in this dataset. All open-ended responses were in English.

8. Follow-Up Survey Recommendations

Based on the data analysis, the following questions are recommended for a follow-up survey to address areas where deeper insight would be most valuable:

1. "What is the maximum price per mile you would consider paying for an AAM air taxi for a short regional trip (under 100 miles)?"

Signal: Cost & Pricing was the #1 open-ended theme (21.7% of responses), but no closed-ended question captured price sensitivity.
Goal: Establish concrete willingness-to-pay thresholds to inform AAM pricing strategy and market positioning.

2. "Which of the following would most increase your confidence in AAM safety? (a) Government safety certification, (b) Published safety statistics, (c) Endorsement by a known airline, (d) Personal testimonial from a passenger"

Signal: Safety was the #2 open-ended theme (13.3%), and 61.3% said "Not likely" or "Not at all" — but we don't know what would change their mind.
Goal: Identify the most effective trust-building lever to prioritize in AAM communications and marketing.

3. "For which of these trip types would you most consider using AAM? (a) Airport-to-city center, (b) City-to-city under 200 miles, (c) Airport-to-suburb, (d) Emergency/medical transport"

Signal: Routes & Destinations theme (7.0%) combined with high variance in the likelihood question suggests respondents may be more open to specific use cases than to AAM in general.
Goal: Identify the highest-demand use cases to prioritize for early AAM service routes.

4. "After reading a brief description of AAM, how would you describe your understanding of what AAM is? (a) Very clear, (b) Somewhat clear, (c) Still confused, (d) No idea"

Signal: 65.7% were "Not aware" pre-survey, and Clarity/Understanding appeared in 4.9% of open-ended responses. The current informational slides may not be sufficient.
Goal: Measure effectiveness of informational content and determine if the survey's educational component needs revision.

5. "How important is it to you that AAM aircraft have a human pilot on board? (Scale 1–5)"

Signal: Pilot/Training appeared in open-ended responses, and autonomous vs. piloted is a key industry decision point not captured in the current survey.
Goal: Quantify the public's requirement for human pilots, informing aircraft design and regulatory strategy.

9. Strategic Recommendations

Invest in Awareness Campaigns

65.7% of respondents had zero prior awareness of AAM. The cross-tab data proves that awareness directly drives willingness — making education the single highest-ROI lever.

Lead with Safety & Cost Messaging

The top two open-ended themes were cost and safety. Any public-facing AAM communications should proactively address pricing transparency and safety credentials.

Target Business Travelers

Business travelers are the largest respondent segment and may have the highest utility for time-saving AAM trips. Tailored messaging for this group could yield early adopters.

Improve Survey Informational Content

The "AAM Info Slide" question received only an informational "Next" response. Consider richer multimedia or interactive content to better educate respondents before asking about travel likelihood.

Address Younger Demo Openness

The 16–25 age group showed higher relative willingness to travel by AAM. Younger demographics may be an important early-adopter market worth cultivating.

Expand Open-Ended Response Collection

Only 44.2% of respondents reached the optional question, and many provided minimal responses. Consider making a shorter, prompted feedback question mandatory to capture richer qualitative data.

10. Appendix

A. Response Collection by Date

DateUnique Respondents
2026-01-2834
2026-01-29352
2026-01-30240
2026-02-16232
2026-02-17907
2026-02-18818
2026-02-19693
2026-02-209

B. Full Airline Distribution

AirlineResponses% of Total
Delta87033.7%
American76129.5%
United34313.3%
Frontier2017.8%
Southwest1475.7%
Allegiant1475.7%
Other652.5%
Alaska190.7%
British Airways170.7%
Breeze130.5%

C. Methodology Notes

This survey was administered via Infotap's Wi-Fi gateway survey platform at an airport location. Data was collected in two waves: January 28–30, 2026 (Wave 1, 626 respondents) and February 16–20, 2026 (Wave 2, 2,659 respondents). The survey used a multi-question format with informational slides about AAM interspersed between questions. Statistical significance was calculated using the standard margin-of-error formula with a finite population correction factor. Open-ended responses were analyzed using keyword-based theme extraction and classified into 10 thematic categories.

D. Question Classification

QuestionTypeUnique Answers
Your age range?Closed-Ended (Multiple Choice)9
Which best describes you? (Traveler Type)Closed-Ended (Multiple Choice)4
Which best describes you? (Gender)Closed-Ended (Multiple Choice)3
Before today, how familiar were you with AAM?Closed-Ended (Likert Scale)4
AAM Info SlidesInformational (Next button)1
Likelihood to travel by AAMClosed-Ended (Likert Scale)4
What airline are you flying today?Closed-Ended (Multiple Choice)15
Optional: Questions about AAMOpen-Ended (Free Text)155+

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