J.D. Power’s latest study of U.S. and Canadian airports is pretty harsh when it comes to Canada. If you take this study at its word, we suck. We truly suck. But I don’t know if that’s quite true.
The company’s annual airport review for 2024 ranks Toronto Pearson/YYZ as the second-worst mega airport in the two countries, ahead of only poor Newark-Liberty in New Jersey.
J.D.Power ranked Vancouver International 15th out of 27 large airports, which is at least middle of the pack. But Calgary was 22nd and Montreal-Trudeau 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 traveled 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, Minneapolis came out on top with a ranking of 671 out of 1,000 available points. Detroit was second at 643, with Phoenix in the bronze medal spot at 633.
The study found the three worst mega airports to be, in descending order, Chicago O’Hare, Pearson and Newark.
For large airports, John Wayne International in Orange County, California was first, while Tampa was in the second spot and Kansas City in third place. The three lowest-rated large airports were St. Louis, Montreal and Philadelphia.
In the medium airport category, the three with the best ratings were Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Southwest Florida. The worst ratings went to Burbank, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
Now, I’ve been known to toss poisoned darts at Toronto Pearson when things go awry, especially when there’s late luggage arrival. That’s generally an airline’s fault, unless mechanisms have broken down.
I don’t much like the food offerings, and the prices at Pearson are horrendous. But most airports are like that. I think it cost $20 or $22 USD for a so-so sandwich and potato chips at SFO last time I was there, and that’s $26 or $28 in Canadian pesos.
Ease of travel? Pearson is huge, there’s no doubt about it. I hate it when I get stuck way out in the boondock gates, which I believe are closer to Kitchener than downtown Toronto (just kidding). Maybe it’s because I fly in and out of Pearson regularly, but I find it pretty easy to get around.
Airport staff? They seem okay. Not super friendly, but not difficult. I remember ordering a hamburger with my kids once in Chicago and asking for a burger to be done medium. “Medium well or WELL,” came the response from a visibly angry waitress. At least nobody at Pearson has ever shouted at me.
Retail? I hate shopping and have no clue. Pearson options don’t seem as interesting to me as San Francisco, and they’re certainly not what you’d see in Singapore or Dubai, but they’re okay.
Departure and arrival experience? Well, that’s not so great at Pearson unless you take the UP express, which is very nice. It’s crowded as heck a lot of times, but so is SFO and so is LAX and so is LaGuardia. Finding your Uber driver at Terminal Two at Pearson can be a nightmare, and that’s something they could perhaps work on. But at least it’s not a half-mile walk from the terminal like you get at some airports.
In a statement to the Toronto Star, a Pearson spokesperson criticized the J.D. Power 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.
Officials pointed out that Pearson was named “Best Airport over 40 Million Passengers in North America” by Airports Council International (ACI) World for 2023.
I’m not sure it’s the best airport in North America with more than 40 million passengers. But I don’t think J.D. Power’s ranking of 26 out of 27 is an accurate assessment.
Vancouver International Airport. JIM BYERS PHOTO
I found a few other odd bits in the J.D. Power study. I fly in and out of Vancouver once a year or so, and find it nice and easy. The luggage here is slow, too, but it’s a pretty nice airport. A few more, nice food options for domestic flights would be nice, as it’s pretty limited from what I’ve seen. I’d say it’s definitely above average, with some wonderful indigenous design elements and a nice, overall feel. I also love that there’s a fabulous Fairmont hotel attached to the airport. I’d have to say it’s a fair bit better than the average airport I’ve been through.
Calgary I also quite like; small, easy to get around. Very pleasant. I can’t see why it would be rated so low. And Montreal? I rarely fly in and out of YUL, but I was there twice in the last year and thought it was pretty good. I like their sandwiches more than Pearson, at least. Again, the J.D. Power rating seems too low to me.
J.D. Power didn’t rate Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, also known as the Toronto Island Airport or Toronto City Airport or Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (why does it have so many names?), which is too bad as it’s a lovely facility that likely would’ve placed well.
Maybe the Pearson person had it right when they said the results are skewed by too many U.S. travellers who don’t know our airports. Maybe Canadians who took part in the city decided to savage Pearson and Montreal Trudeau airports because they don’t like smug Toronto intellectuals or they hate the Montreal Canadiens. I don’t know, but I don’t think the ratings reflect the true nature of Canadian airports.
What do you think? I’d like to hear some of your thoughts on this, so please drop me a line in the comments section. Thanks.
Finally, here are the final rating numbers for the four Canadian airports listed in the survey:
Vancouver: 634
Calgary: 599
Montreal: 576
Toronto: 559
The new terminal at LaGuardia is a beauty. JIM BYERS PHOTO
And here are ratings for a few of the other airports that Canadians fly in and out of with regularity:
NY LaGuardia: 631
Dallas: 623
Las Vegas: 611
San Francisco: 611
Orlando: 596
Fort Lauderdale: 593
Miami: 591
Denver: 588
Los Angeles: 588
Houston (Bush): 586
Atlanta: 574
Chicago O’Hare: 569
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.
