Americans are worried about the U.S. falling behind on investing in airport security technology
Washington, D.C., Dec. 9, 2025 – A new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association finds that a majority of Americans are worried that the U.S. is falling behind globally when it comes to investing in technology used to keep airport security moving efficiently and securely. With the nation’s 250th birthday, the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, and the 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon, few Americans feel that the U.S. Air Travel system is prepared to accommodate the anticipated surge in travelers. At the same time, the poll reveals Americans believe it is important for the country to deliver a safe and efficient travel experience for these landmark events.
While Americans express concern about the current state of airport security infrastructure, the poll also reveals strong support for modernization efforts. According to the survey, Americans back security checkpoint updates that have already been implemented — such as allowing all passengers to keep their shoes on during screening — and the majority also support new policies under consideration, including leaving laptops in bags and permitting larger amounts of liquids through security. Lastly, few Americans are familiar with the 9/11 Passenger Security Fee, but once informed about it, the overwhelming majority agree that Congress should direct all of its funds toward investing in modern airport security technology.
For more on this study, click here.
About the Study
This Ipsos Poll was conducted on behalf of the U.S. Travel Association October 24 – 28, 2025, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel® – a division of Ipsos. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,168 general population adults age 18 or older. The sample includes 325 respondents who have traveled for business in the past 12 months, 1,037 respondents who have traveled by air ever, 267 respondents who are enrolled in TSA PreCheck, and 1,010 registered voters.
The survey was conducted using the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®, which is the largest and most well-established online panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in these households are invited to join and participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel®. For those potential panel members who do not already have internet access, Ipsos provides a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methods, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and provide fully representative online samples to the research community.
The study was conducted in English only. The data were weighted to adjust by age, race, education, household income, Census region, metro status, business traveler, and leisure traveler. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2023 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS). The business and leisure travel benchmarks came from the weighted main sample only. The weighting categories were as follows:
- Age (18-34, 35-49, 50-64, 65+) by Gender (Male, Female)
- Race-Ethnicity (White/Non-Hispanic, Black/Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic)
- Education (Less than HS, HS graduate, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000 and over)
- Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metro status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Business traveler (Yes, No)
- Leisure traveler (Yes, No)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.06. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may All Americans substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Christopher Moesner
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
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