Most Americans believe the travel experience has gotten worse in the last year
Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026 – A new Ipsos poll finds that two-thirds of Americans believe the travel experience has gotten worse in the past year. Those who have flown in the last two months share this sentiment, and half of recent fliers report that they have experienced travel delays due to airlines.
The poll also finds that most Americans are familiar with delays at airports, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shortages, and the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to airports. Over half say they are likely to avoid booking trips by plane in the next six months, and a third of Americans say the same of postponing or cancelling trips they have already booked flights for.
Detailed Findings
1. Americans largely believe the travel experience has gotten worse in the past year.
- Two in three Americans say the travel experience at U.S. airports is worse compared to a year ago. Twenty-eight percent say it is about the same, while just 2% say it is better.
- Among those who have flown in the past two months, 65% believe that the current experience is worse than a year ago.
- Similarly, half of Americans who have flown in the past two months report experiencing travel delays due to airlines, while 20% have experienced delays due to airport security. About one in ten have had to either postpone (8%) or cancel (10%) a trip by plane.
2. Most Americans are familiar with the latest events at airports across the country.
- Sixty-eight percent of Americans are at least somewhat familiar with travel delays at airports across the U.S. Similar percentages are also familiar with TSA staffing shortages (66%) and President Trump deploying ICE agents to airports to assist TSA officers (66%).
- More Americans oppose (58%) than support (39%) the deployment of ICE agents to some U.S. airports. Republicans are significantly more likely to show support than Democrats or independents (78% vs. 4% and 38%, respectively).
3. Just over half of Americans say they are likely to avoid booking trips by plane due to what they have seen or heard about the current situation at U.S. airports.
- Fifty-four percent say they are likely to avoid booking trips by plane in the next six months. One in three (34%) who have flown in the past two months also hold this sentiment.
- A similar percentage are likely to choose an alternative mode of transportation, such as car or train, instead of flying for a trip (53%), while 33% say they are likely to cancel or postpone a trip they have already booked a flight for.
- Lower income Americans are more likely to say they will avoid booking trips by plane or postpone/cancel a trip than their higher income counterparts.
About the Study
This Ipsos poll was conducted March 27-29, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,021 general population adults aged 18 or older. The sample includes 163 Americans who have flown in or out of a U.S. airport in the past two months, and 865 adults who have flown in or out of a U.S. airport in their life.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys accounting for changes in panelists’ party identification over time. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 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 1.05. 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 total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Amanda Price
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
Johnny Sawyer
Senior Research Manager, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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