J.D. Power’s latest study of U.S. and Canadian airports is a blistering indictment of the Canadian airport system. To use the vernacular, we suck.
The company’s annual airport review for 2024 ranks Toronto Pearson/YYZ as the second-worst mega airport in North America, ahead of only EWR in New Jersey.
J.D.Power ranked YVR 15th out of 27 large airports, which is at least middle of the pack. But YYC was 22nd and YUL next-to-last at 26th.
The 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, the 19th such report from J.D. Power, measures overall passenger satisfaction with mega, large and medium North American airports by examining their experience across seven core dimensions (in order of importance): ease of travel through airport; level of trust with airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure/to airport experience; food, beverage and retail; and arrival/from airport experience. Mega airports are defined as those with 33 million or more passengers per year; large airports with 10 to 32.9 million passengers per year; and medium airports with 4.5 to 9.9 million passengers per year.
The 2024 study is based on 26,290 completed surveys from U.S. or Canadian residents who travelled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport and covers both departure and arrival experiences (including connecting airports) during the past 30 days. Passengers evaluated either a departing or arriving airport from their round-trip experience. The study was fielded from August 2023 through July 2024.
In the mega airport category, MSP in Minnesota came out on top with a ranking of 671 out of 1,000 available points. DTW was second at 643, with PHX in the bronze medal spot at 633.
The study found the three worst mega airports to be, in descending order, ORD, YYZ and EWR.
For large airports, John Wayne International in Orange County, California was first, while TPA was in the second spot and Kansas City’s MCI in third place. The three lowest-rated large airports were STL, YUL AND PHL.
In the medium airport category, the three with the best ratings were IND, JAX and Florida’s RSW. The worst ratings went to BUR, PIT and CLE.
Here are the final rating numbers for the four Canadian airports listed in the survey:
YVR: 634
YYC: 599
YUL: 576
YYZ: 559
And here are ratings for a few of the other airports that Canadians fly in and out of with regularity:
LGA: 631
DFW: 623
LAS: 611
SFO: 611
MCO: 596
FLL: 593
MIA: 591
DEN: 588
LAX: 588
IAH: 586
ATL: 574
ORD: 569
In a statement to the Toronto Star, a YYZ spokesperson criticized the study’s methodology. It was “heavily skewed toward U.S. travellers,” the spokesperson said, and didn’t verify if they actually travelled through the airport.
“Toronto Pearson values performance assessments, but we rely on industry-approved standards,” the spokesperson said. In one such assessment, Pearson was named the best North American airport with over 40 million passengers.
YYZ officials pointed out that Pearson was named “Best Airport over 40 Million Passengers in North America” by Airports Council International (ACI) World for 2023.
J.D. Power said the North America Airport Satisfaction Study was redesigned for 2024. Scores in this year’s study are not comparable year over year with previous-year studies.
For more information about the North America Airport Satisfaction Study, visit http://www.jdpower.com/resource/north-america-airport-satisfaction-study.
*Open Jaw was unable to determine whether “tanking” should read “ranking”, however apt the wording is.
