The Missing Voice in U.S. Aviation: The Traveler

The U.S. aviation system is one of the most structured industries in the country. Airlines have trade groups. Airports have councils and governing bodies. Pilots, flight attendants, and other aviation professionals are represented through unions. Regulators regularly hear from industry leaders and stakeholders.

Yet the people who rely on air travel and pay for it have never had consistent representation in these conversations.

Travelers interact with every part of the aviation system. They feel the impact of policy decisions immediately and directly. Still, their perspective is often missing when those decisions are discussed, shaped, or implemented. That gap has existed for a long time, and it helps explain why air travel can feel confusing, frustrating, and disconnected from the people it is meant to serve.

A system with many voices and one notable absence

Aviation is not short on expertise or engagement. Labor groups advocate for their members. Airports coordinate on infrastructure and operations. Airlines work closely with policymakers on economic and regulatory issues. Manufacturers and service providers are deeply involved in industry planning.

What has been missing is a steady organized voice focused on the traveler.

Without that perspective in the room, consumer experience is often addressed after problems surface rather than before decisions are made. Passengers are left trying to understand policies, fees, and operational changes that were never explained from their point of view.

How the gap shows up for travelers

When travelers are not part of the conversation, the result is predictable: confusion about costs and fees, limited clarity around delays, cancellations, and passenger rights, and a sense that decisions are made far away from the people affected by them.

For many travelers, this disconnect shows up in small but meaningful moments: a fee that is never clearly explained, a rule that changes without notice, and a policy that makes sense on paper but feels very different in practice. These moments add up over time, shaping how people view not just a single airline, but the entire air travel system.

Over time, that lack of clarity turns into frustration. Not because travelers expect perfection, but because they expect transparency and a basic understanding of how the system works.

A role focused on the consumer perspective

Affordable Skies works to bring the traveler perspective into aviation discussions in a practical and informed way. That includes helping consumers understand how policy and industry decisions affect them, and ensuring those perspectives are reflected where decisions are being discussed.

This work is not about opposing the industry. It is about adding a viewpoint that has been largely absent.

When travelers are included earlier in the conversation, policy discussions become clearer, communication improves, and decisions are better informed by real world experience.

What comes next

Our board and advisory council have been reviewing a set of aviation policy proposals that will continue to be discussed and finalized at our next meeting. One example is the Protect Your Points Act of 2024, legislation that raises important questions about how airline loyalty programs operate and how changes could affect travelers over the long term.

We are looking forward to engaging in dialogue with Senator Durbin’s office to better understand how this proposal may impact consumers and to seek clarity around its longer-term effects. These conversations are especially important when policies involve programs that millions of travelers rely on but may not fully understand.

At the same time, we continue to hear directly from travelers. Through our day-to-day work with consumers, we see how policies affect people in real time at the ticket counter, during disruptions, and in the cost of travel itself. That feedback plays an important role in shaping and refining our policy positions.

As this work continues, we look forward to sharing how these policies affect travelers and what they mean in practice. Our aim is to make it easier for consumers to understand how policy decisions influence their day-to-day travel.

The traveler has always been part of aviation. It is time their perspective is part of the conversation as well.

If you would like to support our work, we would appreciate it greatly. You can learn more at affordableskies.org/support.