Aug. 6 (UPI) -- More than half of Americans who have flown somewhere over the past year say they're not comfortable with air travel in the age of coronavirus, a new Gallup survey showed Thursday.
The pollster found that 52% of U.S. adults expressed discomfort about taking a commercial flight amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of that group, more than two-thirds aged 55 and older said they're not comfortable flying at all, along with 51% of the 35-54 age range. The 18-34 age group is the most comfortable, with just 33% saying they aren't.
"Differences in comfort level by age group might be expected given that older adults are more vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19," Gallup wrote. "But the extent of those differences is especially noteworthy given that baby boomers and retirees are important market segments for leisure travel."
Along political lines, 59% of Democrats, 54% of independents and 42% of Republicans said they aren't comfortable with present air travel.
Flight length had an impact on most respondents' comfort level. Forty-four percent said they would be comfortable taking a flight that lasted less than two hours, and 47% said they'd feel the same for a flight up to three hours.
Just 27% said they would be comfortable on a flight lasting four to six hours and 21% said so for trips longer than six hours.
Gallup polled more than 10,000 U.S. adults in early July for the survey, which was conducted as part of the Franklin Templeton-Gallup Economics of Recovery Study.
