airport customer service

Airports Compete for Customer Satisfaction. The winners are:

North American airports are filling up again with travelers. And airports are working hard to make the passenger experience as pleasant as can be despite labor shortages that limit the availability of some amenities and food, beverage, and retail options.

Some airports are dealing with it better than others.

In the newest airport rankings from J.D. Power’s 2021 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, released Wednesday, Miami International Airport (MIA) and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) ranked highest in their respective segments of ‘mega’ airport serving 33 million or more passengers per year and ‘large’ airports serving 10 to 32,9 million passengers per year.

(Due to reduced traffic medium-sized airports, serving 4.5 to 9.9 million passengers annually, were not ranked this year.)

“Our #1 ranking by J.D. Power is an encouraging sign that recent improvements at MIA are making a positive impression on our passengers,” said Ralph Cutié, Miami International Airport Director & CEO. “Our new state-of-the-art baggage handling system, which was fully integrated last year, now doubles the speed and efficiency of baggage screening and delivery for flights in our Central and South terminals, and our dining and retail concessions continue to score high marks.”

Kevin Dolliole, Director of Aviation at MSY airport said “This honor from J.D. Power is a testament to our tireless efforts to deliver safe, efficient, and clean facilities and services to the passengers at the New Orleans Airport.”

The study ranks airports on a 1,000-point scale in six categories, in order of importance: terminal facilities;
airport arrival/departure; baggage claim; security check; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage and
retail.

In the ‘mega’ airport category, Miami International Airport (MIA) was first with 828 (of 1000) points, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) was second, with 817 points, and Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport (MSP) was third with 815 points.

Amongst ‘large’ airports, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) topped the list with 844 points. Tampa International Airport (TPA) secured the 2nd spot with just one less point – 843. And Raliegh-Durham International Airport (RDU) came in third with 841 points.

Here are the full rankings. See where your favorite airport landed.

Airports with award-winning customer service

Considering the current coronavirus concerns, you may not be spending much time hanging out in airports for a while.

But when you do venture out, let’s hope it is to, from or through one of the airports that got top honors this week in the Airport Service Quality Awards given out by Airports Council International (ACI), an organization representing airports around the world.

The awards are based on passenger surveys that rate each airport in 34 categories, including facility access, check-in, security screening, stores, restaurants and restrooms.

Here are the airports in North American that will take home some of the 140 awards given:

Best Airports by Size – North America:

Under 2 million passengers

Capital Region International Airport – LAN (Lansing, Michigan)

Jean-Lesage International Airport – YQB (Quebec, Canada)

Between 2 and 5 million passengers – North America

Courtesy El Paso International Airport

El Paso International Airport – ELP (El Paso, Texas)

Portland International Jetport – PWM (Portland, Maine)

Between 5 and 15 million passengers – North America

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) – Cincinnati, Ohio

Indianapolis International Airport (IND) – Indianapolis, Indiana

Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) – Jacksonville, Florida.

Between 15 and 25 million passengers – North America

Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) – Dallas, Texas

Tampa International Airport (TPA) – Tampa, Florida

Between 25 and 40 million passengers – North America

MSP’s award-winning restroom

Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport (MSP) – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Over 40 million passengers – North America

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) – DFW Airport, Texas

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) – Toronto, Canada

Which airports are tops in customer service?

IND AIRPORT CARD

Many modern-day airports mix transportation nodes with hospitality centers, focus on customer experience and offer fine dining outlets, luxury shopping outlets and full-service spas.

Which airports do it best? Each year, Airports Council International — the trade association of the world’s airports — conducts extensive passenger surveys to find out.

Here’s the story I wrote for CNBC.com on the results:

For its 2015 Airport Service Quality Award rankings, ACI surveyed more than 550,000 travelers worldwide about their traveling experiences. They ranked airports on everything from check-in and security to on-site amenities and food, beverage and retail options.

“Airports have evolved into complex, customer-focused businesses in their own right that in many cases are in competition with each other for passenger traffic,” said Angela Gittens, director general at ACI World.

“From duty-free and restaurants to ambiance, cleanliness, courtesy of staff, amenities, efficiency and more, air travelers are expecting big things from the airports through which they travel,” she added.

For the fourth year in a row, Indianapolis International landed in the first-place slot for airports in North America. The hub, which serves more than 7 million passengers a year, rolls out the red carpet for fliers who enter its gates. It has an extensive art program, many branches of local eateries, an apiary, a giant solar farm and a roaming robot that answers customer questions in real time.

“When you combine a beautiful facility with a generous dose of Hoosier hospitality, great things happen,” said Angela Cain, director of public affairs at Indianapolis’ Airport Authority.

“We are grateful to the hard-working Indianapolis Airport Authority staff, as well as our many business partners, for the customer service excellence they provide every day to our travelers,” she added. “We wouldn’t win this award, for the fifth time in six years, without them.”

Tied for second place among North American airports for 2015 were Grand Rapids’ Gerald R. Ford International Airport, Tampa, Dallas Love Field, Jacksonville and Ottawa.

Third-place for North American airports also resulted in a tie, for Austin, Detroit, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airports.

“These awards are particularly meaningful, because they are based on real-time feedback from our customers, while they are traveling,” said Thomas Naughton, CEO of Wayne County Airport Authority, which operates the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

See the full list of ACI Airport Quality Service Awards for 2015 here.