MSP doesn't deserve 'worst airport' label

Poor airline service may have a lot to do with survey results.

Last update: May 23, 2008 - 7:22 AM

Airports are most often endured and very seldom enjoyed.

And if we are to take any stock in a survey released Tuesday by J.D. Power and Associates, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is at the bottom of the endurance rankings. MSP finished last in customer satisfaction among 60 airports studied by the firm.

Studies can be deceiving, though, and even J.D. Power admits that two of the six factors it considered greatly outweigh the other four: flight delays and baggage-claim waits. If you have an eight-hour delay, a cancellation or lost baggage, you're not likely to remember that the turkey sandwich you ate while waiting was excellent. The J.D. Power survey says more about the services provided by the airlines than it does about the airport itself.

You also have to wonder about the quality of the study. J.D. Power surveyed more than 221,000 passengers who flew on a major airline between April 2006 and April 2007 and asked them to rank up to three airports. A spokesman said about 1,400 of those respondents either departed from, arrived at or switched planes at MSP. Although the survey was taken throughout the year, 35 percent of the responses came in September and January. In the words of J.D. Power: "Rankings are based on numerical scores and not necessarily on statistical significance.''

It's possible that a number of those surveyed were victims of the large number of Northwest Airlines flights canceled last June and July. Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) spokesman Patrick Hogan also pointed to weather-related delays and last summer's runway closure.

Late-night comedians have made fun of the airport ever since Sen. Larry Craig's arrest in one of its restrooms, and Minnesotans sometimes complain about security lines and airline service. But seldom do they gripe about MSP itself. The $3 billion spent on terminal renovations and upgrades since 1996 has made MSP a more efficient and modern airport. Local restaurants such as French Meadow Bakery, D'Amico & Sons and Axel's Bonfire are great alternatives to McDonald's and Burger King. Light rail provides streamlined and inexpensive access.

MSP uses survey information from the Airports Council International and the American Association of Airport Executives to measure performance. Those surveys tell a very different story:

MSP was rated as the best large airport in North America for overall customer service in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. It was ranked the best domestic airport in the world in 2001 and 2003 and second-best in 2004.

Only five years ago, in fact, J.D. Power ranked MSP as the third-best airport in the world in a passenger satisfaction survey. The abrupt fall from No. 3 in the world to No. 60 in the United States is reason enough to view such surveys skeptically.

We've got plenty of infrastructure and transportation issues to deal with in Minnesota, but our airport should be a source of civic pride -- not national ridicule.

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