By ALLISON SCHAEFERS Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, the largest in the state, moved up in a ranking of large airports, but it’s still fourth from the bottom, according to the latest J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study.

Honolulu airport’s satisfaction score this year was 593 out of a possible 1,000.

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Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power, said the Honolulu airport improved from the second-worst-ranked airport in 2023, 2022 and 2020 in the large-airport category, which includes airports with 10 million to 32.9 million passengers per year. Data was too limited in 2021 to conduct a survey.

Only Philadelphia International Airport, Montreal-­Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and St. Louis Lambert International Airport were rated worse out of the 28 large airports measured in the 2024 satisfaction study, which is in its 19th year.

The study, which was fielded from August 2023 through July, attempted to measure satisfaction levels based on responses from 26,290 U.S. or Canadian residents who had traveled through at least one North American airport during the past 30 days. The travelers ranked John Wayne Airport, Orange County, as the highest among large airports, with a score of 687 out of 1,000, followed by Tampa International Airport and Kansas City International Airport.

Taylor said travelers were asked to examine their experiences 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.

He said the Honolulu airport scored well in people scores, “which is not surprising given the island culture.” Taylor added that the Honolulu airport ranked in the middle of airports for calmness versus hecticness. “Again that’s probably because of the islands.”

He said the Honolulu airport “scored really well in being environmentally responsible,” but said it was “significantly below average in food, beverage and retail. That would be one of the things that would really help.”

Taylor said airports with food, beverage and retail that had a “local flavor” scored better. For instance, he said passengers traveling through Atlanta liked offerings like One Flew South, a popular downtown Atlanta restaurant known for its contemporary Southern cooking with an Asian flair. He said the New Orleans airport’s ranking benefits from Leah’s Kitchen and Cafe du Monde.

“Locals in New Orleans say the gumbo at the airport Leah’s Kitchen is better than the restaurant in town,” he said.

Taylor said access to the Honolulu airport, which measures traffic and infrastructure challenges on the way to the airport, is another challenge and one that generally has great bearing on all things that happen at the airport.

If passengers aren’t getting into the building efficiently, “everything else is for naught,” he said. “I went to Honolulu once last year. Honolulu reminded me of Los Angeles.”

Taylor said improving access to the Honolulu airport, airport infrastructure and adding a greater mix of food, beverage and retail, especially local style, could help. Completing rail, which could help reduce employee traffic, also might help the Hono­lulu airport’s access score rise, he said.

Why does this matter? Because the airport provides visitors with the first and last impression of a destination, Taylor said.

Local real estate analyst Stephany Sofos said the Honolulu airport experience mars Hawaii’s image of a world-class destination and needs some serious upgrading to support tourism officials in their quest to attract higher-spending visitors.

“I’ve had to pick people up and take them to the airport in the last 45 days, and I’ve flown interisland, too,” she said. “It’s embarrassing. The signage is poor. You can smell urine in the parking lot and elevators. There is not enough of a mix of good food, beverage and retail options.”

Sofos questioned why after decades worth of airport modernization projects, the airport system still has so far to go.

“You cannot have expectations of getting higher-quality visitors if you cannot bring a quality product,” she said. “The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority can spend tens of millions to market Hawaii, but I think we’d see greater benefit if we improved our visitor infrastructure, and that includes the airport.”

Some of the key findings of the 2024 J.D. Power study show that the airport experience matters. To be sure, according to the study, North American airports overall successfully navigated record passenger volumes, with 60% of North American passengers saying they enjoyed spending time in the airport and another 59% saying the airport helped alleviate the stress of travel.

However, crowding had a significant impact on satisfaction, with terminals perceived as “less crowded” scoring higher than those perceived to be “severely crowded.”

Airing their comments

The top and bottom five in the large-airport category, with score out of a possible 1,000 points:

Best

— John Wayne International Airport: 687

— Tampa International Airport: 685

— Kansas City International Airport: 683

— Dallas Love Field: 675

— Nashville International Airport: 668

Worst

— Philadelphia International Airport: 541

— Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport: 576

— St. Louis Lambert International Airport: 583

— Daniel K. Inouye International Airport: 593

— Chicago Midway International Airport: 598

Source: J.D. Power