America's Best Airports

Since 9/11, air travel in North America has become much more of a hassle for travelers than a pleasure. While it might not ever have been a true pleasure, new and mounting security rules along with short-tempered and gruff employees and uncomfortable terminals with confusing signs, have made air travel an ordeal to be endured instead of a pleasant experience. That's why I found this new survey so interesting.

The J. D. Power and Company has released a survey it did from January thru December of 2009. They surveyed over 12,000 people who took round-trip flights and asked them to rate their leaving and arriving airports on things like accessibility, check-in, security, terminal comfort, food choices and baggage claim.

Using this data, the company then rated each airport on a 1000 point system and ranked them. Airports were grouped according to size -- large (over 30 million passengers a year), medium (10-30 million passengers a year), and small (under 10 million passengers a year).

Here are the airports who scored above the average for their size group (with their score):

LARGE

1. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (705)

2. Denver International (701)

2. Minneapolis-St. Paul International (701)

4. Orlando International (700)

5. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (699)

6. Charlotte Douglas International (697)

7. Dallas-Ft. Worth International (692)

8. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (685)

9. McCarran International (682)

10. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (666)

10. Seattle-Tacoma International (666)

The following airports were below the average for their size group -- Toronto Pearson International (655), San Francisco International (647), Chicago O'Hare International (639), John F. Kennedy International (635), Philadelphia International (629), Miami International (617), Los Angeles International (616), Newark International (609).

MEDIUM

1. Kansas City International (742)

2. Portland (OR) International (733)

3. Tampa International (730)

4. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (713)

5. Salt Lake City International (712)

6. Calgary International (708)

7. Baltimore Washington International (707)

8. Oakland International (691)

9. Chicago Midway International (684)

10. Lambert St. Louis International (683)

The following airports were below the average for their size group -- Memphis International (682), San Diego International (678), Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International (677), Cleveland Hopkins International (675), Honolulu International (675), Reagan National International (672), Vancouver International (669), Dulles International (646), Boston Logan International (644), LaGuardia International (604).

SMALL

1. Indianapolis International (777)

2. Southwest Florida International (767)

3. Tucson International (755)

4. Jacksonville International (754)

5. Austin Bergstrom International (752)

6. T. F. Green Airport (750)

7. Palm Beach International (740)

8. Albuquerque International Sunport (735)

9. Pittsburgh International (729)

10. General Mitchell International (726)

The following airports were below the average for their size group -- Buffalo Niagara International (720), Nashville International (717), Port Columbus International (715), Raliegh-Durham International (715), Sacramento International (715), Bob Hope Airport (707), John Wayne Airport (706), Houston Hobby International (697), Bradley International (691), Reno/Tahoe International (689), Dallas Love Field (679), San Antonio International (677), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (673), San Jose International (645).