Air travelers are feeling better about Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport than they did two years ago.

In a J.D. Power and Associates report released Thursday, the airport tied Denver International Airport for second place in customer satisfaction.

This is a huge improvement over the study done two years ago, when MSP was ranked last of 60 airports.

The report measured customer satisfaction on six levels, including accessibility, the check-in and baggage check processes and food and retail services available.

"It's always good to see customers rank us highly, but it's really unclear why we changed so much this time around," said Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Since 2008, only modest changes, like new carpeting in the Lindbergh terminal and the additions of a second quiet seating area and paging capabilities for hearing-impaired visitors, have been made to the airport, Hogan said.

"MSP is very efficient in moving people from spot to spot, and it has a lot of things that other airports don't have," he said. But none of that has changed in the past two years. "There really is no rhyme or reason [for the fluctuating rankings]," Hogan said.

However, a new customer service initiative was put in place at the airport last year that allows restaurants, shops and airlines to work together to improve customer service.

While MSP's ratings improved in all areas, Matt Holland, account manager at J.D. Power and Associates, said customers thought most highly of the cleanliness of restrooms, the level of comfort around the gates, the ease of parking and dropping off in front of the terminals and the airport's signage and directions.

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport ranked first in the study.

Sarah Gorvin is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.