News

It’s summertime. You can tell because it’s hot outside. But that’s about all that feels like summer this year. Typical summer activities have been dashed by COVID realities. Pool parties, barbecues, and especially summer travel plans have been cancelled for many. However, not everyone is planning on staying home. 

According to the RedSky Strategy Covid-19 study* conducted between March 30th – June 4th, more than half the US population (55%) is planning on traveling this year, and almost half of those who are traveling are intending to do so by plane. 

So what do we know about these people? Are they the daredevils among us? Or are they just less worried about the pandemic?

What we found is that those who are intending to travel this year tend to be younger millennials (25-34) who are just kind of neutral when it comes to how they are perceiving and reacting to the pandemic. They are worried and anxious like everyone else, but they don’t feel as strongly about safety issues, policy decisions, etc. Sure they’re not the most comfortable with the idea of flying, but they’re not so uncomfortable with the notion that they will abstain. In fact, they are 18% more likely to feel just kind of ok about the idea of flying. Same goes for reopening the country. These aren’t the people on the poles of this debate. They’re 22% less likely to feel strongly about keeping the country in lockdown, but that doesn’t mean they feel strongly about reopening either. These travelers are sort of shrugging their shoulders at the whole situation.

Where they do have an opinion is when it comes to prognostication. This group is 30% less likely to feel pessimistic about the pandemic and 22% less likely to believe that the pandemic will permanently shift the way they live their lives. They don’t see the pandemic lasting into the winter months, or even fall for that matter. When asked in June when they thought the pandemic would be over, this group was likelier to say “Um maybe August?” (we’re paraphrasing there).

So to those optimistic travelers who are shrugging their shoulders at us, we say go ahead be bold(ish). Let your wings spread (kind of). Fly with the eagles (not too high). And please, don’t forget your masks and six feet of distance when you go!

*Methodology:

These findings are from the RedSky Strategy proprietary national survey that ran three times from March 30 through June 5 in order to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey results were a representative sample of the US population, including approximately equal amounts of women and men, spanning ages 18-65+. The survey aimed at uncovering people’s attitudes both during and about the pandemic by asking questions around self-assessed mental and physical health, consumer behaviors, attitudes, and more.