LaGuardia ranked No. 1 in its class in new survey of North America airports
More than 4,200 passengers participated in the survey at LaGuardia, which was conducted near the airport’s gates throughout 2023. Credit: Newsday/Theresa Sandler
Once the butt of jokes, LaGuardia Airport’s reputation is now sky-high.
The Airport Service Quality survey has recognized LaGuardia as one of the two best airports in its class in North America in 2023, according to a study published on Monday.
The airport earned an overall passenger satisfaction score of 4.24 out of 5, which was 20% higher than its score in 2018, when passengers rated LaGuardia as the worst airport in North America. As a result, LaGuardia was named ASQ’s “Best Airport of 25 to 40 Million Passengers in North America.”
“There is no better judge of our new airports than the passengers who use them, which is why the ASQ award for best airport going to LaGuardia is so meaningful,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O'Toole in a statement. “Across the region, the Port Authority is working with its partners to create the best-in-class experiences that passengers have long deserved at LaGuardia, Newark’s Terminal A and at JFK International.”
More than 4,200 passengers participated in the survey at LaGuardia, which was conducted near the airport’s gates throughout 2023.
The survey followed an $8 billion construction project to transform the airport, which broke ground in 2016 and was substantially completed in 2022, the Port Authority said.
Passengers were asked to rate all aspects of their journey from “end to end” as well as airport cleanliness, airport condition, staff courtesy, quality of concessions, security and other amenities. Ambience, the “single largest driver of overall satisfaction,” increased 21%, while cleanliness increased 15% over the last five years.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and former airline executive, said while the renovated terminals are a “nice place to wait,” airlines have neither improved their flight activity nor expanded runways.
“When people go to an airport, they go to go somewhere, as opposed to go to a shopping center,” Mann said. “When you spend more money on the optics than you do on the function, you have to question whether that money is well invested.”
Meanwhile, the average cost of an airline ticket at LaGuardia Airport decreased from $313.53 to $309.38 in the third quarter of 2023 from the same period in 2022, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
During that same time period, the average ticket price dropped from $421.57 to $386.79 at Minneapolis-St. Paul, the other airport named the best with 25 to 40 million passengers annually.
The decrease in flight prices is due to supply and demand, Mann said, with the number of passengers increasing over that period but airlines also adding more seats.
Earlier this year, the Port Authority announced that 2023 was its busiest year ever at its three major airports. LaGuardia marked a new high of 32.4 million passengers, or a 4% jump from its previous record in 2019 of 31.1 million.
In 2020, the airport opened its new Terminal B, handling more than double the capacity of its predecessor. Likewise, LaGuardia's new Terminal C, which opened in 2022, is 85% larger than the two terminals it replaced.
“Taking LaGuardia Airport from worst to best is now more than just an aspiration, it’s an accomplishment that passengers have now resoundingly recognized,” said Rick Cotton, Port Authority executive director, in a statement. “When we started out on our $8 billion transformation of LaGuardia, few believed we could create the world-class airport our region deserves. But the ASQ award proves that seeing is believing.”
Once the butt of jokes, LaGuardia Airport’s reputation is now sky-high.
The Airport Service Quality survey has recognized LaGuardia as one of the two best airports in its class in North America in 2023, according to a study published on Monday.
The airport earned an overall passenger satisfaction score of 4.24 out of 5, which was 20% higher than its score in 2018, when passengers rated LaGuardia as the worst airport in North America. As a result, LaGuardia was named ASQ’s “Best Airport of 25 to 40 Million Passengers in North America.”
“There is no better judge of our new airports than the passengers who use them, which is why the ASQ award for best airport going to LaGuardia is so meaningful,” said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O'Toole in a statement. “Across the region, the Port Authority is working with its partners to create the best-in-class experiences that passengers have long deserved at LaGuardia, Newark’s Terminal A and at JFK International.”
More than 4,200 passengers participated in the survey at LaGuardia, which was conducted near the airport’s gates throughout 2023.
The survey followed an $8 billion construction project to transform the airport, which broke ground in 2016 and was substantially completed in 2022, the Port Authority said.
Passengers were asked to rate all aspects of their journey from “end to end” as well as airport cleanliness, airport condition, staff courtesy, quality of concessions, security and other amenities. Ambience, the “single largest driver of overall satisfaction,” increased 21%, while cleanliness increased 15% over the last five years.
Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst and former airline executive, said while the renovated terminals are a “nice place to wait,” airlines have neither improved their flight activity nor expanded runways.
“When people go to an airport, they go to go somewhere, as opposed to go to a shopping center,” Mann said. “When you spend more money on the optics than you do on the function, you have to question whether that money is well invested.”
Meanwhile, the average cost of an airline ticket at LaGuardia Airport decreased from $313.53 to $309.38 in the third quarter of 2023 from the same period in 2022, according to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
During that same time period, the average ticket price dropped from $421.57 to $386.79 at Minneapolis-St. Paul, the other airport named the best with 25 to 40 million passengers annually.
The decrease in flight prices is due to supply and demand, Mann said, with the number of passengers increasing over that period but airlines also adding more seats.
Earlier this year, the Port Authority announced that 2023 was its busiest year ever at its three major airports. LaGuardia marked a new high of 32.4 million passengers, or a 4% jump from its previous record in 2019 of 31.1 million.
In 2020, the airport opened its new Terminal B, handling more than double the capacity of its predecessor. Likewise, LaGuardia's new Terminal C, which opened in 2022, is 85% larger than the two terminals it replaced.
“Taking LaGuardia Airport from worst to best is now more than just an aspiration, it’s an accomplishment that passengers have now resoundingly recognized,” said Rick Cotton, Port Authority executive director, in a statement. “When we started out on our $8 billion transformation of LaGuardia, few believed we could create the world-class airport our region deserves. But the ASQ award proves that seeing is believing.”
