Its not you - Flying through US airports has never been so stressful. Photo / Hans Isaacson, Unsplash
Its not you - Flying through US airports has never been so stressful. Photo / Hans Isaacson, Unsplash
Cuts to schedules, crowded terminals and disjointed return to service has seen American airports drop to new lows according to a new study.
America has a uniquely utilitarian approach to airports. Compared to the malls masquerading as transport hubs of Singapore and the UAE - US airports are pretty Spartan. They are places that one goes to travel. You don't go there for satisfaction.
However, despite low expectations, a new report shows that passenger satisfaction has taken a deep plunge at US an Canadian airports. The JD Power North American Airport Satisfaction Study has shown that confidence in their ability to get you places has taken a nosedive.
Overall satisfaction has dropped 2.5 per cent.
"The combination of pent-up demand for air travel, the nationwide labour shortage and steadily rising prices on everything from jet fuel to a bottle of water have created a scenario in which airports are extremely crowded and passengers are increasingly frustrated," said Michael Taylor, the travel intelligence lead for JD Power.
Satisfaction at US airports was at an all time high last year, while passenger volume was very low. Photo / Hans Isaacson, Unsplash
Surprisingly airport experience and airport satisfaction peaked at the tail end of the pandemic. Last year's study showed that air traveller satisfaction reached an all time high in 2021. Perhaps travellers were just happy to be flying anywhere at all? Taylor says it has more to do with the capacity and number of travellers expecting to use airports.
In 2021 passenger volumes were just a fraction of historic norms. This year passengers were back at 91 per cent of pre pandemic levels, and many airports, airlines and travel services were not ready.
Taylor says this 'come down' is a realisation that travel is generally stressful. "In some ways, this is a return to normal as larger crowds at airports tend to make travellers more frazzled."
However there are many functional issues including overfull car parks, closed food and beverage options and a lack of capacity that passengers have not had to deal with before.
One of the biggest factors is that air travel is more expensive than passengers remember. Nearly a quarter of travellers say they refuse to pay for food or drink at airports due to the prices.
Costs are around 23 per cent up on 2019 prices, 20 per cent on last year. Inflation and increased air fares are another bone of contention, when passengers feel like they are getting less while paying a lot more for flights.
Some airports are coping better than others.
Minneapolis-Saint Paul was the highest scoring airport, with big coastal hubs San Francisco and New York JFK also making the top five.
However if you're intending to fly into the states some other ports of entry are likely to leave you less happy.
Flying into Los Angeles International is likely to be a very different experience, falling 42 points lower than San Francisco.
JFK outperforms fellow New York port Newark Liberty by 72 points, which lands bottom of the pile.
Categorising airports for comparison by size, it was the mega-airports category (over 33 million passenger movements per year) that showed the most discrepancies.
America's largest airport, and a point of entry with direct routes from New Zealand, Chicago O'Hare International was the second lowest performing airport.
The lowest scoring Canadian airport was Toronto Pearson which was in the bottom five of all North American airports.
Top scoring North American mega airports on a 1000-point scale
• Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (800) • San Francisco International Airport (796) • Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (791) • John F. Kennedy International Airport (791) • Harry Reid International Airport (790)
Bottom scoring North American mega airports on a 1000-point scale
• Toronto Pearson International Airport (755) • Boston Logan International Airport (754) • Los Angeles International Airport (753) • Chicago O'Hare International Airport (751) • Newark Liberty International Airport (719)
The JD Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study is now in its 17th year, and takes into account the responses of 26,529 passengers from the US or Canada every year.
