Flyers crave a better, more efficient air travel system and are willing to pay a little bit extra to get it, a survey by the U.S. Travel Association has shown. Although travelers remain frustrated by ticket add-ons from which they derive little benefit, such as bag and change fees, six out of 10 travelers would welcome user fees dedicated to improving efficiency and choice. More than seven in ten travelers, meanwhile, feel that current air travel options are inadequate.

“Because travel consumers are very astute, we’re not at all surprised to learn that they are willing to pay for something that provides them with a tangible benefit,” says U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow. “Air passengers aren’t thrilled about ancillary fees, which disappear into the airlines’ pockets, or federal taxes, which disappear into Washington’s pockets. But if you show them a local user fee that is tightly structured to invest in our outdated and overburdened infrastructure, they understand the difference and strongly support it.”

Dow says the existing funding mechanism for US trravellers, the Passenger Facility Charge [PFC], a local user fee paid only by users of specific airports, hasn’t been indexed for inflation in a decade and a half, while air travel infrastructure in the US falls further behind the rest of the world. “It’s time for airlines, cities, Washington politicians and the traveling public to recognize that the PFC is the answer to a host of air travel problems, and summon the will to update it for the 21st century.”

Dow says that the traveler survey results add up to an overarching theme: concern over a lack of competition among airlines. The survey results show huge majorities of travelers feeling underserved by the number of carriers in the US market, an industry in which just four U.S. airlines now carry 85 percent of U.S. passenger traffic as a result of the industry’s radical consolidation of the last several years. The US Traverl Association believes a ready solution would be expanding terminal space or allowing airports to purchase back unused slots and gates—exactly the type of enterprise the PFC is designed to fund.

“Looking at the Big Three airlines’ push to break Open Skies agreements, coupled with their vehement opposition to infrastructure investments through the PFC, it is difficult to reach any conclusion other than they are deathly allergic to competition,” Dow saYS. “Our survey results clearly illustrate that travelers recognize this as a major problem, and want policymakers to do something about it.”

The survey, conducted by Research Now, found 62 percent of US travellers were “somewhat frustrated” or “very frustrated” with air travel generally. A total of 58 percent are willing to pay up to US$4 more per ticket to fund airport improvements projects that would enable airports to accommodate more airlines, modernize facilities or reduce delays in and around the airport. In addition, 72.5 percent of respondents felt that having fewer airlines to choose from does not reasonably serve the needs of people and businesses that depend on flying.

For the survey, a total of 1,015 interviews were completed during the period March 17-18, 2015. The sample consisted of travellers that have taken at least one air trip in the past 12 months and are 18 years old or older. www.ustravel.org