Here’s a rundown of which North American airports ranked at the top of a recent customer satisfaction survey, and which you, and your clients, may want to avoid.
Air travel can make or break a vacation—even though that experience is really out of the travel advisor’s control. So which airports are the most likely to leave your clients feeling out of sorts before they even get to their destination?
That’s what the 2024 JD Power North America Airport Satisfaction survey aimed to discover. It rated airports on overall passenger satisfaction with mega (those with 33 million or more passengers per year), large (10 to 32.9 million passengers per year) and medium (4.5 to 9.9 million passengers per year) North American airports. It asked more than 26,000 travelers about their experience across seven core dimensions (in order of importance): ease of travel through airport; level of trust with airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure/to airport experience; food, beverage and retail; and arrival/from airport.
With no further ado, here’s what the survey found:
Best and worst mega airports: Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport came out on top, with a score of 671 out of 1,000. The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport came in right behind at 643, followed by the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport with a ranking of 633. At the bottom of the list were Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, with a ranking of 569; Toronto Pearson International Airport at 559; and Newark Liberty International Airport with 552.
Best and worst large airports: Those who fly from or through John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., said it was the best, with a score of 687 out of 1,000. Right behind it was Tampa International Airport at 685, followed by Kansas City International Airport with 683. The bottom three were St. Louis Lambert International Airport at 583, Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport at 576, and Philadelphia International Airport at 541.
Best and worst medium airports: The Indianapolis International Airport took top honors, with a score of 687 out of 1,000, followed by the Jacksonville International Airport with 686 and Southwest Florida International Airport at 675. The bottom-ranked airports were Hollywood Burbank Airport, with a score of 626; Pittsburgh International Airport at 625; and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at 580.
That these North American airports scored as well as they did is a testament to the work they’ve done to keep up as passenger volume continues to swell. More than 3 million passengers passed through TSA checkpoints on July 7 this year, which set a record for one-day volume, according to JD Power. But even with higher passenger volumes—and rapidly rising prices at airport kiosks and restaurants—most travelers seem more or less happy with their airport experiences. They said they especially appreciate airports that deliver on the unique local identity of their region. From decor to signage to stores and restaurants, airports that had more of a local flavor tended to score higher.
Spending at Airports is Down
However, those rapidly rising costs may be hitting a breaking point. The survey found that people this year were spending less than they did last year on airport food and beverage, as well as other goods available at airport outlets. The drop was biggest at large airports, where passengers have reduced their spending by an average of more than $6. Satisfaction also has to do with how crowded an airport tends to be, with terminals thought to be “not at all crowded” scoring almost twice as high as those considered to be “severely crowded.” Fortunately, just 5 percent said they had experienced severely crowded airport conditions in 2024.
“Huge air travel demand has not slowed down in North America, despite the steadily rising costs of flights, ground travel, hotel rooms and pretty much anything you can buy in an airport,” said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power. “Most travelers are still enjoying the experience. However, we are starting to see a breaking point in consumer spending, with average spend per person in the terminal declining significantly from a year ago.”
