(orchestral music)
- [Scott] What makes an airport good depends on your needs.
Do you care most about on-time departures,
short lines at TSA, quality food options?
How about a dog to ease your stress?
Seriously, this is a thing.
But at the Wall Street Journal we have a system.
Each year we look at 15 metrics.
Five related to operations, five around value,
and five about convenience,
including a grade from WSJ readers,
to determine the best of the country's airports.
And by the same metrics, the worst.
So which ranked best this year?
A few clues.
It has a newly rebuilt terminal,
a power outlet in each seating unit,
and a ton of sunshine which helps with on-time departures.
And yes, it's the one with Duke,
the poodle dressed in a John Wayne outfit.
(jazzy music)
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport,
which bills itself as America's friendliest airport,
took the top spot in this year's ranking.
And the city's aviation director was delighted to hear it.
- It's a great testament to our team
and all of the investments that we make in our facilities.
We want to try to make sure
that that passenger experience
is as painless as possible.
And we try to stress customer service day in and day out.
- [Scott] Before we get to this year's worst ranked,
here's why Sky Harbor was on top.
The airport, which placed third last year,
excelled in many of the metrics,
including short screening waits,
a low rate of delays and cancellations,
short taxi to takeoff times,
and ever a low average Uber cost
to get from the airport to the convention center.
It's biggest jump from last year's ranking however
what it's wifi speed.
Sky Harbor ranked 18th out of the 20 largest airports
in wifi speed last year.
Consumers complained.
It's now second.
Another factor,
average yelp restaurant ratings improved this year
at Sky Harbor,
while restaurants at last year's winner,
Denver, slipped slightly.
- Sometimes you get tired of seeing
the same national brand at an airport.
But here,
we have some really great local restaurants.
- [Scott] Despite it's high scores in many categories,
Phoenix still scored low in several areas.
It ranked 19th in the number of nonstop cities served
with a lack of international flights.
- We would like to see that portfolio
of international destinations expanded.
(tense music)
- [Scott] More international flights
didn't help this year's worst ranked airport however.
Outdated facilities, flight delays, and poor food reviews
once again put Newark at the bottom
of the Journal's airport rankings for large airports.
The executive director of the port authority
of New York and New Jersey wasn't surprised.
- Well, one thing that one has to recognize
is that all three of the port authority's airports,
in customer experience surveys,
rank at the absolute bottom of the surveys.
That is the reality.
- [Scott] New York's Kennedy airport
placed only one spot higher at 19th,
and LaGuardia took last place
in the mid-sized airport rankings,
receiving a grade of D plus
from Wall Street Journal readers on average.
Focusing on Newark,
domestic fares were second highest on average,
lines at TSA averaged the second longest wait,
and the airport bottomed out
in percentage of flights that landed on time at just 66%.
Oh yeah, and the food at Newark
was ranked worst among big airports in average Yelp reviews.
But the port authority is undergoing
a massive $24 billion rebuild at all three airports.
At Newark,
a new terminal one is currently under construction.
When completed, the three billion dollar facility
will replace current terminal A.
- They've simply outlived their useful life.
Newark terminal A is almost 50 years old.
In the age of technology and the age of air travel,
that's simply unacceptable.
- [Scott] Terminal one is still about two years out.
In the mean time,
Newark has upgraded some bathrooms and concessions
to respond to customer complaints.
- Our ambition is to be at the top
of the passenger experience surveys.
We have our eye at moving
from the back of the pack to world-class.