Philadelphia International Airport inched up in passenger satisfaction this year for terminal facilities and amenities such as food, beverage, and retail in J.D. Power’s annual survey.
PHL scored 715 out of 1,000 possible points, an improvement over the 688 points scored last year for terminal appearance, airport accessibility, security, check-in, and baggage handling.
Nevertheless, PHL came out near the bottom in the rankings — just below Fort Lauderdale and Chicago O’Hare, and above Los Angeles International, Newark Liberty, and New York LaGuardia among large and mega-sized airports, the survey found.
This was the 12th year for the study, and J.D. Power changed the categories, separating “mega” sized airports with 32.5 million or more passengers from “large” airports with 10 million to 32 million passengers. PHL, with more than 30 million annual travelers, was No. 21 this year, up from No. 29 in 2016.
“Passengers felt better about Philadelphia this year than they did last year,” said Michael Taylor, J.D. Power director of airport studies. “They were more satisfied.”
Airports with multiple, older terminals tend to score lower. “Multiterminal airports require a huge amount of effort to make changes,” Taylor said. “Any change you make to one building, you have to make to four others to get a really good impact.”
Philadelphia International has six terminals, A to F. Travelers usually see only the terminal they are in.
The biggest factor in passenger satisfaction is terminal facilities, Taylor said. Second in importance to the flying public is access to the airport — ease of getting in and out, convenience of parking, and the experience checking in, getting through security, and to the gates.
The rankings were based on responses from 34,695 North American travelers, who began or ended their trips at one of 60 airports, or passed through the airport on a connecting flight between January and the end of August.
The top-ranked largest airport was Orlando International, with 778 consumer satisfaction points.
John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., rated highest among large airports, with 796 points, while Sacramento International got top billing, scoring 810 satisfaction points, among medium-sized airports.
J.D. Power released the study three months earlier than last year. “We are changing it because we released during the week of Christmas, which isn’t very helpful to the industry,” Taylor said. “It’s much better to have these results before the travel season starts. We collected the same amount of samples. We interviewed the same number of people as we did in an entire year.”
Lauren Hitt, spokeswoman for Mayor Kenney, gave two examples of the “many things” the city is doing to improve customer service at the airport: “We worked with airline partners to reduce wait times at TSA checkpoints and we began the transformation of Terminal B in May,” she said.
In response to the ranking, PHL spokesman Mary Flannery said, “While we have not seen the report, we take customer service very seriously and work hard every day to improve the passenger experience. We will be reviewing the findings to look for ways to continue to improve.”
PHL last year completed a $161 million expansion and makeover of Terminal F, including a new baggage-claim building. In late 2008, a new “connector” building opened between Terminals D and E with shops, expanded passenger screening, and more gates. Currently, a major revamp is underway in Terminal B with iPads at seats in gate areas and new restaurants.
source:http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/philly-phl-airport-improves-in-passenger-satisfaction-20170921.html