Overall customer satisfaction with airports in the United States and Canada actually improved this year, according to the annual passenger survey released last week by J.D. Power.
Though frustrated by crowded terminals, widespread delays, and rising prices, the survey’s 30,000 or so respondents nevertheless deemed themselves 10 points more content (on a 1,000-point scale) compared with how North American airports fared in 2024.
J.D. Power’s analysts found that the uptick was “driven largely by improvements in food, beverage, and retail” as well as “ease of travel through the airport.”
Evidently, a working tram and a Cinnabon can cover a multitude of sins.
Actually, on the food and retail fronts, what passengers really like, judging from the survey’s results, aren’t big, faceless chains (so not Cinnabon, sorry) but “local flavors” that bring something of the surrounding area’s unique offerings inside the terminals. Think: outposts of homegrown coffee shops, bars with locally brewed beers on tap, the Prince store at the Minneapolis airport—that sort of thing.
And speaking of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), it ranked highest in passenger satisfaction among the country’s “mega” airports for the second year in a row.
J.D. Power defines mega airports as those with 33 million or more passengers per year. Under the company’s classification system, airports with 10 to 32.9 million passengers per year are considered “large,” while “medium” airports get 4.5 to 9.9 million passengers per year.
In a statement trumpeting the win, Minnesota’s Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport, credited a massive, “substantially completed” multiyear renovation that has left the facility’s Terminal 1 larger, more efficient, visually refreshed, and better equipped with modernized technology and those all-important concessions spaces.
Among large airports, John Wayne Airport (SNA) in California’s Orange County scored best with travelers. Indianapolis International Airport (IND) topped the ranking of medium-sized facilities.
At the other end of the satisfaction spectrum—with passenger scores well below the median—the airports ranked at the bottom of J.D. Power’s list for 2025 are Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in the mega category, Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in the large category, and Alberta’s Edmonton International Airport (YEG) in the medium category.
Newark was our pick, too, for the worst airport in the United States when we updated the Frommer’s dishonor roll earlier this year.
But let’s focus for now on the airports that flyers like.
2025’s Best Mega Airports, According to J.D. Power
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
- Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), Las Vegas
2025’s Best Large Airports, According to J.D. Power
- John Wayne Airport (SNA), Orange County, California
- Tampa International Airport (TPA), Florida
- Dallas Love Field (DAL)
- Kansas City International Airport (MCI), Missouri
- Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), North Carolina
2025’s Best Medium Airports, According to J.D. Power
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
- Ontario International Airport (ONT), California
- Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF), New York State
- Jacksonville International Airport (JAX), Florida
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), Florida
To see the complete survey results, go to JDPower.com.
