Which airports are the tops in North American for traveler satisfaction? Phoenix, Dallas Love and Indianapolis.That’s according to J.D. Power, which found those airports topped the three categories in its 2020 North American Airport Satisfaction Survey.Phoenix took the top spot in J.D. Power’s “Mega” airports category, finishing with a score of 805 on a 1,000-point scale that was enough to best runner-up Miami’s score of 801. Detroit, the 2019 winner, dropped to a sixth-place tie with Dallas Fort Worth at 791 points each.Sign up for TPG’s free new biweekly Aviation newsletter for more airline-related news!Dallas Love Field finished highest in the survey’s “Large” airports category with 844 points. The 2019 winner for the category — Portland, Oregon — dropped to sixth.The top overall score of 866 went to Indianapolis, which repeated as No. 1 in J.D. Power’s “Medium” airports category.There also was a repeat performance at the other end of the spectrum. Newark Liberty finished last among the 19 airports in J.D. Power’s “Mega” category” with 733 points while New York LaGuardia came in at the bottom of the 26 airports in the “Large” category. Hawaii’s Kahului Airport on the island of Maui finished last among the 19 airports in the “Medium” category.LaGuardia’s score of 712 was by far the lowest in the survey, though there is hope for the close-in New York City airport. LaGuardia is in the midst of a dramatic terminal overhaul that’s quickly improving the travel experience there — albeit not in time to boost the airport’s score for this year’s ratings.Another LGA improvement! A brand-new Amex Centurion Lounge is coming to LaGuardia AirportSign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Overall, however, the J.D. Power’s 2020 traveler satisfaction rankings come amid a time of profound upheaval in the airline industry sparked by the ongoing the coronavirus pandemic.“A year ago, the biggest challenge confronting North American airports was overcrowding. Today, they are comparatively empty,” J.D. Power said in a statement accompanying its ratings.The number of airline passengers has plummeted since March. Traveler totals bottomed out at just 4% of normal in April, based on the number of screenings conducted by the Transportation Security Administration. The numbers started to rebound into July, but now have leveled off at only about 40% of what they were during the same time in 2019.“Compared to the pre-COVID-19 environment when most airports were running significantly over capacity, the lack of crowds and long lines is actually creating a very convenient experience for travelers right now,” said Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power. “Obviously, this lower passenger volume is not sustainable for most airports. Airport managers are doing all they can to provide a safe and clean environment to facilitate a rebound in travel.”Dire outlook: US airlines ‘fighting for survival’ with no hope of V-shaped recovery, trade group saysTPG exclusive: Southwest CEO Gary Kelly chats with TPG about his legacy at the carrier, new cities and change feesJ.D. Power’s survey looked at satisfaction scores evaluating the three categories of airports across six factors. They were, in order of importance to the survey: terminal facilities; airport arrival/departure; baggage claim; security check; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage and retail.The full methodology for the survey can be found at J.D. Power’s website. The 2020 results are based on responses from 26,058 U.S. and Canadian travelers surveyed within 30 days of their travel during a window that began in August 2019 and ended in July 2020.The full list of airport ratings are below, broken out by J.D. Power’s categories of Mega, Large and Medium.“Mega” airports1. Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), 805 points (on a 1,000-point scale)2. Miami (MIA), 801 points3. Las Vegas McCarran (LAS), 797 points4. Denver (DEN), 793 points4. New York JFK, 793 pointsFrom New York: Eastern Airlines adds new route to Mexico, will go up against United6. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), 791 points6. Detroit (DTW), 791 points8. Orlando (MCO), 789 points9. Atlanta (ATL), 787 points9. Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), 787 points11. Charlotte (CLT), 780 pointsMega airports average: 780 points12. Boston (BOS), 777 pointsAirport updates: Delta Air Lines ‘committed’ to new Boston hub; Austin, Raleigh focus cities13. Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH), 775 points14. San Francisco (SFO), 774 points15. Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), 766 points16. Los Angeles (LAX), 763 points16. Toronto Pearson (YYZ), 763 points18. Chicago O’Hare (ORD), 758 points19. Newark Liberty (EWR), 733 pointsMore: First look at Newark’s brand-new Terminal One opening in 2021"Large" airports1. Dallas Love Field (DAL), 844 points (on a 1,000-point scale)2. John Wayne/Orange County (SNA), 837 points2. Tampa (TPA), 837 points4. Houston Hobby (HOU), 823 points5. Portland, Oregon (PDX), 814 pointsMore: Southwest Airlines inaugurates a new ‘very Portland’ concourse at PDX6. Salt Lake City (SLC), 810 points7. Sacramento (SMF), 809 points8. Austin (AUS), 804 points9. Raleigh/Durham (RDU), 799 points10. Nashville (BNA), 795 points11. New Orleans (MSY), 794 pointsLive from Utah: Salt Lake City’s spiffy new terminal just opened — here’s what it was like on day 111. Vancouver, Canada (YVR), 794 points13. Calgary (YGC), 792 points13. Washington Dulles (IAD), 792 points15. Washington Reagan National (DCA), 790 points16. Baltimore/Washington (BWI), 788 pointsLarge airports average: 786 points17. Chicago Midway (MDW), 782 points17. Montreal (YUL), 782 points19. Kansas City (MCI), 781 points19. St. Louis (STL), 781 pointsMore: United Airlines adds 17 routes to Florida, bypassing hubs in pandemic route-map shakeup20. Oakland (OAK), 780 points21. San Diego (SAN), 778 points22. San Jose, California (SJC), 777 points23. Fort Lauderdale (FLL), 762 points24. Philadelphia (PHL), 751 points25. Honolulu (HNL), 743 points26. New York LaGuardia (LGA), 712 points"Medium" airports1. Indianapolis (IND), 866 points2. West Palm Beach (PBI), 833 points3. Fort Myers/Southwest Florida (RSW), 829 points4. Albuquerque (ABQ), 826 points4. Pittsburgh (PIT), 826 points6. Columbus, Ohio (CMH), 820 points7. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (CVG), 819 points8. Jacksonville, Florida (JAX), 817 points9. Milwaukee (MKE), 815 pointsMore:Which US airlines are blocking middle seats and requiring masks?Medium airports average: 812 points10 .Ontario, California (ONT), 811 points10. San Antonio (SAT), 811 points12. Buffalo (BUF), 803 points13. Omaha (OMA), 798 points14. Burbank (BUR), 797 points15. Harford (BDL), 793 points15. Ottawa, Canada (YOW), 793 points17. Cleveland (CLE), 786 points18. Edmonton, Canada (YYG), 778 points19. Kahului/Maui, Hawaii (OGG), 745 points* = Mega airports are those having 33 million or more passengers per year; large airports have 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year; and medium airports have 4.5 million to 9.9 million passengers per year, according to J.D. Power.
