Background
Summary of Council decision:
Four issues were investigated, all of which were Not Upheld.
Ad description
Websites by Skytrax, an online airline review company:
a. The Skytrax website, www.airlinequality.com, included a web page headed "World Airline Quality Rating". Text included "World Airline Star Rating provides the world airline industry and it's [sic] customers with a professional, unified Quality classification system that is the internationally recognized symbol of airline product and service standards".
b. The World Airline Awards website, www.worldairlineawards.com, which was run by Skytrax included a web page headed "World Airline Awards: Trusted Survey and Awards Methodology". Text included "During the 10-month survey period, more than 18 million airline customers from over 100 different nationalities participated in the customer satisfaction survey. The Survey covered over 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers, and measured standards across 38 key performance indicators of airline front-line product and service".
c. The Passengers Choice Awards, www.skytraxsurveys.com, which was run by Skytrax included a web page headed "PASSENGERS CHOICE AWARDS". Text included "The Passengers Choice Awards represent the voice of the world's airline passengers, voted by 18.8 million air travellers from over 100 nationalities in the 2011 World Airline Survey. The awards are respected and recognised across the world as the only truly global, independent benchmark of airline standards. Established for over 12 years, the Passengers Choice Awards are managed by SKYTRAX, the aviation research organisation".
d. The World Airline Survey website, www.worldairlinesurvey.com, which was run by Skytrax included a web page headed "About the World Airline Survey ....". Text included "The annual Passenger's Choice Awards are decided by over 28 million air travellers, from more than 100 nationalities. The survey methodology is audited each year to ensure full transparency, and to guarantee maximum integrity to winners of the Passenger's Choice Awards. In the 2010 Passenger's Choice Award results, over 215 airlines and 207 airports across the globe were voted for by air travellers, underlining the established reputation as the world's largest passenger studies".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the claim "World Airline Star Rating provides the world airline industry and it's [sic] customers with a professional, unified Quality classification system that is the internationally recognized symbol of airline product and service standards" in ad (a) misleadingly implied that the rating system was a unified system that was internationally recognised by governments or governmental aviation agencies;
2. the claim "During the 10-month survey period, more than 18 million airline customers from over 100 different nationalities participated in the customer satisfaction survey. The Survey covered over 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to smaller domestic carriers, and measured standards across 38 key performance indicators of airline front-line product and service" in ad (b) could be substantiated;
3. the claim "voted by 18.8 million air travellers from over 100 nationalities in the 2011 World Airline Survey" in ad (c) could be substantiated; and
4. whether the claim "decided by over 28 million air travellers, from more than 100 nationalities. The survey methodology is audited each year to ensure full transparency, and to guarantee maximum integrity to winners of the Passenger's Choice Awards. In the 2010 Passenger's Choice Award results, over 215 airlines and 207 airports across the globe were voted for by air travellers" in ad (d) could be substantiated.
Response
1. Skytrax Research (Skytrax) did not agree the claim implied their rating system was a unified system that was internationally recognised by governments or governmental aviation agencies. However, they said their rating system was recognised by a number of airlines that were owned by governments, which they provided details of, as well as privately owned airlines and three airline alliances that together represented 60 of the world's major airlines. They provided screenshots which referred to Skytrax ratings on the websites of 13 airlines owned by governments.
They said their ratings system was referred to as "unified" to communicate that they operated a single quality rating system that was applied in an identical format for airlines in every part of the world. They provided details of the various elements of an airline they examined when determining their star rating, including an evaluation of their operations on the ground, the onboard design and delivery and consistency. They also gave details of their five stage evaluation process.
2. & 3. Skytrax said the World Airline Awards and the World Airport Awards were generally known by the airlines and media as the Passenger's Choice Awards. They said they were willing and able to provide complete sets of raw survey data to verify the number of survey respondents, the spread of respondents by nationality and the different airlines covered in the World Airline Survey and that they were confident their claims could be substantiated. They provided an extract of raw survey data. They said the annual survey was conducted over a ten-month period on a dedicated website and that it had been carried out since 1999. They said nearly half the respondents were repeat annual participants. They said airlines were able to invite customers to participate and that some also circulated the survey to their frequent flyers, which for one airline consisted of 2.5 million people. They said the survey was primarily offered in English but was also available in Russian, Chinese and Korean. They provided examples of the survey in various languages. They explained there were various categories of survey such as Airline of the Year, Best First Class and Best Onboard Catering. They said that "Nationality" was a required section of the survey and so was always supplied. They provided spreadsheets for the 2011–2012 survey period ("the 2011 survey") that listed the 106 nationalities of participants, the 218 airlines included and the monthly voting totals showing a survey total of over 18 million participants. They also provided a further sample of survey data. They said that the reference to 18 million customers in the claim referred to the number of individuals who participated in the survey, rather than the total number of surveys completed. They said that if an individual completed more than one survey, for example for different categories, they had in place sufficient checks to ensure they were only counted once as a participant. They said it was compulsory to submit an e-mail address when completing a survey and that they sent an acknowledgement e-mail after every survey completion. They said that, combined with further checks on IP addresses, they were confident their survey monitoring system was robust.
4. Skytrax said the figures given in the claim referred to the combined annual World Airline Survey and World Airport Survey, both of which were generally labelled the Passenger's Choice Awards. They said that the first part of the claim was not year specific but that the second part of the claim referred specifically to the number of airlines and airports covered by the 2010 survey. They provided a monthly breakdown of the numbers of people who voted each month in the 2010 World Airline Survey, using the same methodology as the 2011 survey, which totalled just less than 19 million overall. They said that, in addition to this, 9.8 million individuals also participated in the 2010 World Airport Survey. They said they were willing and able to provide the raw survey data in full. They said that in fact 270 airports were covered, rather than the 207 quoted in the ad in error. They provided spreadsheets that listed the nationalities of participants, the 270 airports surveyed and the monthly voting totals showing the total number of participants. They said the World Airport Survey was also carried out over a ten-month period and that many airports linked to the survey from their own website or used the survey as the home page for their terminals' free internet stations during the survey period. They said the survey was primarily available in English, but was also available in Chinese and Korean. They provided some example surveys and a breakdown of the votes for the top 20 ranked airports.
Assessment
1. Not upheld
The ASA did not agree with the complainant that the claim implied Skytrax's rating system was recognised by governments or governmental aviation agencies. We considered the claim merely implied Skytrax ratings were internationally recognised and that, in the context of the claim, consumers would expect this to refer to recognition by airlines and the aviation sector. Skytrax had provided evidence that at least 13 airlines referred to Skytrax ratings in their advertising. They also gave details of their ratings process which we considered demonstrated the rating system was "unified". We therefore concluded the claim had been substantiated and was not misleading.
On this point we investigated ad (a) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) but did not find it in breach.
2. & 3. Not upheld
Ad (b) referred to the World Airline Awards. Ad (c) referred to the Passenger's Choice Awards but in reference to the figures it quoted stated these referred to the 2011 World Airline Survey, covering the period 2011–2012. We therefore understood both claims related to the same data set. Skytrax had provided details of the survey methodology, a sample of data, monthly survey totals and a spreadsheet supporting the numbers of nationalities and airlines covered. They also provided information regarding the process they used to ensure that individuals who completed more than one survey were only logged once for the purposes of the claim. We therefore concluded the claims had been substantiated.
On this point we investigated ads (b) and (c) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) but did not find them in breach.
4. Not upheld
The claim in ad (d) referred to the Passenger's Choice Awards which Skytrax explained was generally how the airlines and media referred to both the World Airline Awards and the World Airport Survey. The claim in relation to the number of participants was not linked to a specific year, but because the paragraph went on to refer to the 2010 survey we considered this implied the earlier claim also referred to the 2010 survey. Skytrax provided evidence that approximately 19 million individuals participated in the 2010 World Airline Survey, and also provided evidence to demonstrate that a further 9.8 million individuals had participated in the World Airport Survey. They provided details of the survey methodology, monthly survey totals and a spreadsheet supporting the number of nationalities and airports covered, which was higher than that quoted in the ad. They also provided information regarding the process they used to ensure that individuals who completed more than one survey were only logged once for the purposes of the claim. We therefore concluded the claim had been substantiated.
On this point we investigated ad (d) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
3.1
3.1
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
and
3.3
3.3
Marketing communications must not mislead the consumer by omitting material information. They must not mislead by hiding material information or presenting it in an unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely manner.
Material information is information that the consumer needs to make informed decisions in relation to a product. Whether the omission or presentation of material information is likely to mislead the consumer depends on the context, the medium and, if the medium of the marketing communication is constrained by time or space, the measures that the marketer takes to make that information available to the consumer by other means.
(Misleading advertising) and
3.7
3.7
Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.
(Substantiation) but did not find it in breach.
Action
No further action necessary.
