Some airport commissioners say they are troubled by a new survey that shows Naples Airport has a high favorability rating among Naples and Collier County residents. 

The NAA recently hired American Pulse Research and Polling of Alexandria, Virginia, to conduct a Community Sentiment Survey, the results of which can help the NAA shape future strategy. The polling company said it surveyed 1,421 registered voters via live phone interviews and by phone texts. 

Dustin Olson, managing partner with American Pulse Research, revealed the results of the poll  during the NAA’s April 17 meeting. He said the survey began with open-ended questions so residents could say what came to mind.  

“These gave respondents ample opportunity to talk about whatever they wanted to and in their own words,” Olson told commissioners. 

Later questions were designed to determine whether the airport’s messaging on specific issues had reached the public, Olson told the board members. The questions led to higher favorability among respondents, he said.  

One of those first open-ended questions was, “In a few words, how would you describe the Naples Airport?”  

• 20% had a generally positive sentiment 

• 17.7% had “no opinion” 

• 13.3% considered Naples Airport a “small, private airport” 

• 10% consider it a “community asset” 

• 9.9% had “noise, location” concerns 

The next general question — also designed to let respondents say what came to mind without new information — was, “What would you change or improve?” The one-word answers, which were indicated in a word cloud, did not include context. 

• Flights 

• Commercial 

• Nothing 

• Move 

Did respondents mean more flights? Fewer flights? Those answers would come in later questions. 

When asked, “What would you change or improve?” most respondents said they had no idea. 

• 20% – Don’t know, not familiar 

• 18.9% – Want commercial flights 

• 18% – No change, leave as is 

• 11.6% – Relocate or move airport 

• 6.8% – Noise or flight path 

According to Olson, the airport’s favorability in the poll “starts high, and grows with awareness.” In other words, when Olson introduced new information in the polling questions, respondents expressed a far more favorable impression of the airport. 

Those new facts, which introduced “informed favorability” to the poll, were: 

• First, the airport is self-supporting; no tax dollars go to the airport’s budget 

• Second, the airport contributes $781 million annually to the city’s economy (including more than $1 million to first responders) 

• Third, the airport is home to Collier County Mosquito Control District, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit, Naples Fire-Rescue Department Station #3 and other first responders. 

At the start of the survey, airport favorability was:  

• 66.6% in the City of Naples 

• 58.4% in the rest of the county 

• 59.1% in the city and county 

Favorability rose after introducing the three facts. When learning about the contribution to the economy, favorability rose to 90.4% throughout the county; 82.9% in the City of Naples, and 89.8% overall. Likewise, favorability rose to 87% among the three groups when respondents were told that the airport hosts first responders. 

“Later on in the survey, when we informed respondents of the airport’s economic impact and activities in the community, the public rated the airport even more favorably,” Olson said. 

In addition to learning what local and county residents think about the airport, the board wanted to measure whether its public education efforts have worked. It is a form of message-testing, a legitimate process for learning what the community knows about an organization. 

Though they said they hadn’t had enough time to review the results of the survey, commissioners John Crees and Robert Burns wondered whether some poll questions were designed to elicit a positive response. 

NAA Commissioner John Crees questioned the methodology Olson used in his survey. 

“My initial thought looking at the questions is, we’ve asked softball questions,” Crees told the board. “There are no references to recent crashes, nothing about health effects of aircraft exhausts; it’s been referred to as a push poll survey.” 

Crees got the phrase from a March 29 email from Joseph Migliara of the Old Naples Association. In his email. Migliara, who for years has criticized the airport over aircraft noise, accused the poll of being intentionally biased.  

Olson defended his work before the board. 

“It’s unethical to do a push poll,” Olson told Crees. “I would lose my (certification with) the American Association for Public Opinion Research if I were to do that. We would not have a business if we did push polls.” 

Commissioner Robert Burns also cited questions he believed were designed simply to draw favorable responses. 

“The airport provides $781 million in economic activity and a million to firefighters — who would disagree with that?” Burns said. “I can’t think of anybody that would respond to it any other way than to think of the airport more favorable just by the nature of the question.” 

He wanted questions aimed at specific issues.  

“I would like to know what they know about noise,” he said. 

NAA Chairman Rita Cuddihy — who said she once headed marketing for two Fortune 500 companies — pointed out that Olson’s early poll questions sought an honest response from survey participants, while later questions were designed to weigh the success of the airport’s public messaging. 

“They did in fact, ask those questions without giving any other information,” Cuddihy said. “That’s the real basis of what we want to know. The first thing we want to know is, how do people feel? Those early questions … got that very well established here.” 

Message-testing is a normal aspect of such polls, she said. 

“The pieces I see you asking are also to say, ‘How are we doing against our messaging, is it getting through? Do people understand where we are?’ So you would expect to see those numbers jump dramatically, in some cases the highest you ever saw.” 

Each commissioner vowed to review the Community Sentiment Survey over the next several weeks and talk about it at the next monthly NAA meeting, which is May 15. 

This story was published in The Naples Press on April 25.