By Michael Hotten KABC News
J.D. Power’s 2016 North America Airport Satisfaction Survey has put Portland’s airport number one. But the the consumer rating service has told KABC that Los Angeles’ airport is well on its way to being a standout place to travel through. LAX was in the bottom third of the survey for large airports.
Satisfaction amongst travelers was up across the board according to J.D. Power, mostly due to better baggage handling, faster check-in and more food choices. And it’s the dining opportunities at higher ranking airports that is making them standout.
“Airports that have those high-end and mid-range types of foods with quality, especially with local type flavor, do extraordinarily well,” says Director of Airport Practices Mike Taylor. “Everyone is trying to recreate that and that is actually happening at LAX right now”
Los Angeles International is in the middle of a makeover that includes spending 14 billion dollars on improving transportation to and from the airport. “Access to the airport is one of the negatives of that airport,” Taylor told McIntyre in the Morning. A midfield terminal that can accommodate the 500 passenger Airbus A380 is also part of the improvements.
New York is also trying to raise the satisfaction level at Laguardia airport, an airport Vice President Joe Biden likened to a third world country. A massive project is underway to re-position the terminals to make it more user friendly.
Whatever airports do, Taylor says the user experience is what matters, “More modern, more local, more like a mall than an airport hangar.”
Taylor was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning.
