Step 1 :We are given that we want to be 95% confident that the sample percentage is within 2.5 percentage points of the true population percentage. This means that the z-score (Z) is 1.96 and the margin of error (E) is 0.025.
Step 2 :Since we don't know anything about the percentage of passengers who prefer aisle seats, we'll use 0.5 as a conservative estimate for the estimated proportion of the population (p).
Step 3 :We can now use the formula for sample size in a proportion, which is \(n = \frac{Z^2 * p * (1-p)}{E^2}\).
Step 4 :Substituting the given values into the formula, we get \(n = \frac{(1.96)^2 * 0.5 * (1-0.5)}{(0.025)^2}\).
Step 5 :Calculating the above expression, we get n = 1536.64.
Step 6 :Since we can't survey a fraction of a person, we round up to the nearest integer, which gives us n = 1537.
Step 7 :\(\boxed{1537}\) is the number of randomly selected air passengers that must be surveyed.