OTTAWA - Many Canadians feel air travel is safer now than it was before the 9-11 attacks, a new poll suggests.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found that almost four out of 10 respondents feel flying is safer today, while a majority say it is just as safe.
Only seven per cent feel air travel is less safe a decade after the terror attacks in New York and Washington.
The survey also found that two-thirds of people reported they are flying just as much as they did before the attacks, with over 10 per cent saying they are flying more.
Pollster Doug Anderson says the survey results suggest that post-9-11 security efforts have made an impact.
"At one time, the attacks may have had the potential to create long-term, paralyzing fear," he said.
"Instead, the data suggest that measures taken to address safety, or perhaps the heightened sense of awareness of the security processes in place, have improved the sense of comfort in air travel."
The survey found that Quebecers and Albertans are most likely to say air travel is safer. On the political spectrum, Conservatives and New Democrats were most likely to share that view.
Since the attacks a decade ago, several other plots to down airliners have been foiled. The shoe bomber was subdued by other passengers in 2001. A plan to use liquid explosives on a number of planes was uncovered in 2006.
The underwear bomber failed to set off his explosives over Detroit in 2009.
Harris-Decima interviewed just over 1,000 people between Aug. 18 and Aug. 22 and the poll is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
