J.D. Power Airport Rankings

Well, last week J.D. Power and Associates released its 2010 report on airport customer satisfaction, and (spoiler alert!) the study found "that the areas with greatest impact on overall passenger satisfaction are speed of baggage delivery; ease of check-in and baggage check; comfort in airport terminals; and the amount of time required for security check."

Not to be harsh, but didn't we already know this? That being said, it's a good reminder for airports that they should be focusing on the basics here. Make sure signage is plentiful, accurate, and easy to understand. Work with the TSA to make an efficient checkpoint.  Free Wi-Fi might be cool, for example, but all that does is make it easy for angry passengers to tweet about how long the security line is.

The report did share a very interesting statistic, however:

The study finds that providing high levels of airport passenger satisfaction has a strong positive impact on retail spending. Among passengers who are "disappointed" with their airport experience (providing ratings of one to five on a 10-point scale), airport retail spending averages $14.12. However, passengers who are "delighted" with their airport experience (providing ratings of 10 on a 10-point scale), spend an average of $20.55 on airport retail purchases-45 percent more than do "disappointed" passengers. Only a small percentage of passengers-9 percent-are "delighted" with their airport experience.

That's a good revenue incentive.

Anyway, let's quickly go over the stats. In the large airport category, Detroit took the top spot and Minneapolis and Denver tied for second. That's certainly good news for Delta passengers, especially those flying on Northwest's network. Personally, I think Denver should've won just for its gorgeous views of the Rockies! Kansas City was the best medium-sized airport, and Indianapolis took the top spot for small airports. (I was quite happy that my home airport, T.F. Green in Rhode Island, ranked 6th in this category.)

You can see how your airport measured up here.

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