Survey Results: Pandemic Has Flying Activity Way Down

The results were dramatic and concerning. The pandemic has been keeping people out of the air, which we knew from a variety of data sources that have documented the decline in air travel of all kinds over the past month and more.

But respondents to our survey said that they are being hit especially hard. When asked how about their current flying activity, 82 percent said that they are flying less than before, with only 4 percent saying that they are flying more. Furthermore, they said that they expected the slowdown, which two-thirds of survey participants they blamed on stay-at-home orders that make traveling to the airport or airport access more difficult. Sixty percent expected that it would be a few months (49 percent) to perhaps never (11 percent) before things returned to normal.

Airshow attendance expectations were very low, with 81 percent of survey takers saying that they'd like to attend a fly-in but that they expected them to be cancelled.

So how are we spending our time? A quarter of participants said that they were studying up for future ratings or proficiency, nearly half were reading aviation magazines or books. A much smaller percentage than we anticipated were spending most of their time online in aviation groups and forums. Just 14 percent reported doing so.

According to the survey, our optimism has taken a hit with the COVID-19 epidemic. While a third of those who answered the survey questions believed that things well be back to normal in "a couple of months," more than 60 percent felt as though it would be a year or longer before things were back to normal, if indeed that were to happen at all.

The survey, of course, is an unscientific gathering of hundreds of our readers' opinions. Thanks to everyone who participated and look for more surveys in coming weeks.