Despite record numbers of passengers going through U.S. Transportation Safety Administration checkpoints—the highest day on record was July 7, with more than 3 million passengers screened—most people seem to still enjoy their time in airports, according to the J.D. Power 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, released Wednesday.
Like this year's North America airline study, J.D. Power redesigned the 2024 airport report, so scores cannot be compared year over year. However, "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," J.D. Power managing director of travel, hospitality and retail Michael Taylor said in a statement. "Most travelers are still enjoying the experience."
Even with widespread cancellations and delays, 60 percent of North American airport passengers said they "somewhat agree" or "strongly agree" that they enjoyed spending time in their airport, according to J.D. Power. About 59 percent said they agree that their airport helped to alleviate the stress of travel.
Still, "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," Taylor said. On average, passengers spent $3.53 per person less than they did in 2023 on food, beverage and other items in the terminal. The decline is greatest among large airports where passengers have reduced their spending by an average of $6.31.
Airport Rankings
This year's report studied seven core factors, 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 [to]/[departure] from airport experience. Mega airports are defined as those with 33 million or more passengers per year, large airports with 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year and medium airports with 4.5 million to 9.9 million passengers per year.
Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport came in first for mega airports with a score of 671 out of 1,000 points, besting last year's top airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which was second with a score of 643. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which last year came in 13th, landed in third this year with a score of 633. The average score for the segment was 595. Newark Liberty International Airport once again brought up the rear for this category with a score of 552.
Among large airports, which had an average score of 629, John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., ranked the highest with a score of 687. Last year's winner, Tampa International Airport, came in second (685), followed by Kansas City International Airport (683), which last year was in 13th place. The airport with the lowest score—for the third year in a row—was Philadelphia International Airport (541).
Indianapolis ranked first for the third time in a row among medium airports with a score of 687, followed closely by Jacksonville International Airport (686), which was sixth in 2023, and Southwest Florida International Airport (675), which dropped from second place last year. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was last for the segment with a score of 580. The segment average was 646.
The 2024 study was based on 26,290 completed surveys from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport during the past 30 days. It covers both departure and arrival experiences, including connecting airports. Passengers evaluated either a departing or arriving airport from their round-trip experience. The study was fielded from August 2023 through July 2024.
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