Travel Tips

Customer Satisfaction Survey Ranks Best & Worst Airports in the USA

Locations in this article:  Denver, CO Detroit, MI Indianapolis, IN Minneapolis, MN Portland, OR Tampa, FL

Best & Worst airportsWhat do customers say are the most important qualities of a good airport?

While shops and wireless Internet access are nice diversions, what matters most to passengers is a quick and painless check-in process and basic comfort in terminals, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

Keep reading to find out which airports ranked highest—and lowest—in customer satisfaction.

The survey polled passengers on six factors: airport accessibility, baggage claim, check-in/baggage check process, terminal facilities, security check, and food and retail services. Those attributes were then measured on a 1,000-point scale, with 1,000 being a perfect score.

Overall, American airports made strides in the past year, improving from 675 to 690. But airports are still lagging far behind other travel services like hotels, which averaged 756, and rental cars, 733.

Flying planeSo what’s dragging airports down? According to the survey, airports need the most improvement in matters of convenience, like accessibility, speedy check-in and baggage claim, and easy-to-navigate terminals.

That’s why smaller airports rank higher on average than the larger airports that have to check-in, screen, seat, and deliver bags to millions more passengers each year.

Of the large airports that see at least 30 million passengers per year, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport topped the list in overall satisfaction, followed closely by Denver International and Minneapolis/St. Paul International. Meanwhile, Newark International in New Jersey ranked last.

Find out which airlines are ranked highly by customers: J.D. Power and Associates Latest Airline Satisfaction Survey

For medium airports, Kansas City International ranked first, earning five stars in every category except food and retail services. Portland International and Tampa International also earned five stars in overall customer satisfaction.

LaGuardia International in New York bottomed out the list for medium airports and earned the dubious honor of being the lowest rated airport of any size.

Most small airports, which see fewer than 10 million passengers per year, scored well above 700 points. Indianapolis International was the highest ranked in the small airport category while San Jose International brought up the rear with a rating of 645 points.

The study was based on evaluations by more than 12,000 passengers who made round-trip flights in 2009.

By Dan Bence for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related Links: JD Power release, Large Airport Ratings, Medium Airport Ratings, Small Airport Ratings

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So do you agree with these rankings? What are your favorite and least favorite airports? Let us know in the comments.