The best airports in the country — NJ is miles away from the top

They say age is just a number. Perhaps "overall customer satisfaction index rating" is just a number, too.

Whether that's true or not, Newark Liberty International Airport is looking anything but rosy in J.D. Power's 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study.

On a 1,000-point rating scale that saw an average score of 595, Newark scored a poor 552 in the "Mega Airport" segment, narrowly below Toronto Pearson International (559) and O'Hare (569) in Chicago.

Unfortunately for Newark Liberty International, this is their third consecutive last-place finish, as they were the caboose of the mega airport segment in 2023 and 2022.

The top three mega airports by score this year were Minneapolis-St. Paul International (671), Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (643), and Phoenix Sky Harbor International (633).

The 2024 survey measured overall passenger satisfaction with mega, large and medium North American airports, evaluating seven key aspects of a passenger experience (in order of significance): 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.

This year's study is based on 26,290 surveys from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one North American airport.