The survey presented to respondents contained two choice components: a traditional Stated Preference component with 7 choice tasks, and a ticket search component modelled on online search engines, with 4 search tasks and a practice search. The order of the two components was randomised, as was the order of the tasks within each component. Both types of task consisted of the same attributes, listed below in Table 1. For each attribute, the ranges of attribute levels for the two sets of choice tasks (SP/search) are shown. While an experimental design was used for the SP tasks, the search tasks made use of information from real world flights (where available). Two price components were shown: a carbon tax, and the ticket price excluding the carbon tax. While all taxes are typically bundled together, or included in the ticket price, we separated a possible carbon tax to test for differences in perceptions of carbon tax costs. Real airline names were
displayed, always with their logo visible. Some of the comfort related attributes are not typically shown on ticket booking websites, including seat pitch and the onboard entertainment system. In part these attributes were included simply to test for the impact of these attributes on airline ticket choice. However, they also represent types of information that could easily be added to ticket booking websites for ready comparison between flights, but remain difficult to search for. Airline specific information may not be available or buried in a website. Sites such as SeatGuru (www.seatguru.com) are paving the way, providing seat pitch and entertainment system information for many airline-aircraft combinations. The cost of an itinerary change is usually shown by online travel agents however this is typically in the fine print once a flight is chosen.