Why did Miami airport fall in traveler satisfaction in J.D. Power survey?
Long passenger screening lines pushed Miami airport from top ranked among biggest North American airports to No. 9 in customer satisfaction.
Miami International Airport fell from being the best “mega airport” in the country in 2021 based on satisfying travelers to being just above average in 2022, according to J.D. Power’s North American Airport Satisfaction Study released Wednesday.
Crowds and long lines at South Florida’s biggest airport are to blame.
“Miami is a victim of its own success, passenger volume has essentially doubled in the past year,” said Mike Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail research at J.D. Power. “Anything involving wait times, they [Miami airport] were terrible at; they were crushed there. It’s not a reflection of poor work from TSA [Transportation
Security Administration] or MIA, it’s just the huge increase in passenger volume that MIA experienced in 2022.”
Miami’s airport went from second in customer satisfaction in 2020 to the top spot among the biggest airports in 2021. That was thanks to the low pas
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senger flow and subsequent short lines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year, the airport has had the longest average wait time in the country. And increased crowds from the surge in travel this year has caused airport to slip to ninth in customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s survey of North America’s 20 largest airports.
The influential report is based on responses from 27,000 people who are residents of the U.S. or Canada and traveled through a North American airport within the past 30 days.
J.D. Power determined its fresh rankings based on six factors: terminal facilities; access arriving and departing; baggage claim; passenger security lines; check-in service; and food, beverage and retail offerings. Miami was ranked just above the average score on a 1,000-point scale, and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was No. 12 out of the 20 airports included in the survey’s “mega airport” category. Each of these airports handle over 33 million passengers a year.
Taylor noted Miami airport’s consistently high ranking for its terminal facilities and array of quality food, beverage and retail options as the airport’s strongest points. He also said Fort Lauderdale airport lacks in both of those categories but has plans to improve retail and infrastructure.
Overall, the survey of the biggest airports found that customer satisfaction declined at almost every airport in 2022 due to increased passenger traffic following pandemic travel disruptions and persistent labor shortages. The bestranked mega airport in 2022 is Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, followed by San Francisco International Airport, which was the only airport where customer satisfaction improved from last year. Coming in last with the lowest customer satisfaction score was Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, slightly better than O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.
Miami’s airport and South Florida tourism have roared back this year after pandemic slowdowns and international travel bans. The airport has consistently broken its own passenger traffic records. In July, airport officials said they were on pace to expect 55 million airline passengers in 2022, which would easily surpass the airport’s record of 45 million air travelers in 2019.
Anna Jean Kaiser: 305-376-2239, @annajkaiser