While people “share” just about everything and anything online, travelers are not especially social in person, according to a recent survey. The GO Group, LLC, an international ground transportation service provider, along with GO Airport Express, a GO member and Chicago-based ground transportation company serving O’Hare International and Midway airports asked their passengers about how often, if ever, they engage in conversation with their seatmates.
Of the 736 respondents, just five percent said they always speak to their seatmates and 25 percent responded “frequently.” The most common answer, at 44 percent, was “it depends on who I am sitting next to.” Seven percent said they never speak to people on planes and almost 20 percent said they do so only if their seatmate initiates the conversation.
Women were slightly chattier than men, with six percent responding “always,” compared with men at four percent. However, when survey participants were asked if they have ever formed an ongoing relationship with someone they met on a plane, 12 percent of men replied yes, compared with 8 percent of women.
“With in-flight programs, high-tech gadgets and WiFi being offered on planes, people are less inclined to entertain themselves with one-on-one conversations while flying,” says John McCarthy, president of The GO Group.
One of the oldest companies in Chicago, GO Airport Express traces its founding to 1853 and the Parmelee Transportation Company, which provided a carriage service between Chicago’s railroad stations and the downtown hotels. The GO Group, LLC is a one-stop source for door-to-door airport shuttle services. Its members transport some 13 million passengers to and from some 66 airports in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Europe annually.