A Tale of Three `Top Airport’ Lists

Condé Nast Traveler magazine has become the latest to come out with its list of top U.S. airports under the auspices of its annual America’s Reader Choice Awards. It joins J.D. Power’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study and Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Award in rating airports. The big three use different criteria to determine their top airports, and only Indianapolis International, Dallas Love Field and Tampa International airports made the cut on all three lists.

Condé Nast Traveler had more than 300,000 travelers take part in its 30th annual Readers' Choice Awards survey between April and July 2017, generating millions of ratings and more than 100,000 comments to create its list of winners in categories including airports and airlines.

J.D. Power’s study measured traveler satisfaction with what it called mega, large and medium North American airports by six factors: terminal facilities; airport accessibility; security check; baggage claim; check-in/baggage check; food, beverage and retail. It surveyed 34,695 North American travelers who traveled through at least one domestic airport with both departure and arrival experiences (including connecting airports) during the past three months, between from January and August 2017.

And ACI says its ASQ awards, which celebrated 10 years in 2016, are the only global benchmarking program that measures passengers’ satisfaction while at the airport on the day of travel, creating a unique perspective for each participating airport. Every year, the program surveys 600,000 travelers in 41 languages and 84 countries, measuring their views on 34 key performance indicators, including airport access, check-in, security screening, restrooms, stores and restaurants.

Condé Nast Traveler’s list of top U.S. airports for 2017 covered small, medium and hub airports with Indianapolis International, Portland International and Long Beach taking the top three spots. The magazine noted that smaller was better on this year’s list, noting how these airports offered passenger-favorite amenities including free Wi-Fi, ease of connection and great food and shopping.

Orlando International Airport ranked highest in satisfaction among mega airports on the J.D. Power study, with a score of 778. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (767) ranked second and McCarran International Airport (765) ranked third. John Wayne was tops among large airports, with a score of 796 followed by Tampa International (795) and Dallas Love Field (790). Sacramento International placed first among medium airports, with a score of 810, followed by Indianapolis International Airport (807) and Ted Stevens Anchorage International (806).
ACI’s 10th anniversary ASQ awards for the North America category had a lot of ties in 2016. Tying for first place were Indianapolis International, Jacksonville International and Toronto Billy Bishop airports. Second place winners were El Paso, Ottawa and Tampa International airports. And third place was Austin-Bergstrom, Dallas Love Field, Edmonton, Halifax, San Antonio and Winnipeg airports.