Northeast airports rank lowest in passenger satisfaction

Four major airports in the Northeast are among the worst in the nation in terms of customer satisfaction, according to an annual market study.

New York’s La Guardia Airport, Newark Liberty International, Boston’s Logan Airport and thePhiladelphia International Airport ranked among the five worst airports in the county, according to theJ.D. Power 2016 North American Airport Satisfaction Study.

La Guardia Airport was rated the worst.

Construction woes at the airport have contributed to a 6-point drop in overall satisfaction in 2016. A multi-billion-dollar project by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is transforming several LaGuardia terminals into one integrated terminal, the study notes.

“Those current terminals handle more than 13 million travelers a year. They were designed to handle only 8 million travelers,” said Michael Taylor, director of the airport practice at J.D. Power. “This improvement has been needed for a long time. The new design is going to create major short-term headaches for LaGuardia travelers, but the results will be worth it. The design solves two major problems for the airport: overcrowding and the ability to move aircraft more efficiently on and off runways.”

Fairing slight better than La Guardia was Newark Liberty International, rated the second-worst airport in the nation for customer satisfaction.

Boston’s Logan Airport was the fifth-worst airport, ranked slightly better than Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Philadelphia International was rated slightly worse than the Boston and Chicago airports.

As Americans take flight in record numbers, airports across the country are struggling to keep up with demand.But thestudy released this week on passenger satisfaction said most are dealing with the capacity issues well— overall customer satisfaction actually improved this year.

Traveler satisfaction with the airport experience averages 731 on a 1,000-point scale— a five-point increase over 2015. The study ranked large and medium airports by examining terminal facilities, airport accessibility, security check, baggage claim, check-in/baggage check, food, beverage and retail.