John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports
Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.
According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance) — ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.
Here are the region's favorites:
Topping the list was John Wayne Airport, Orange County, a hub in the “large airport” category (between 10 million and 32.9 million passengers per year) with a score of 730, closely followed by Indianapolis International Airport, which also held the top position amongst medium-sized airports (fewer than 10 million passengers a year) for the second consecutive year.
Notably, none of the mega-sized airports (with more than 33 million passengers per year) made it to the overall top 15, with its top scorer, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport coming with a much lower 660 points compared to that of other categories. That makes sense, as the things that have the ability to ruin our airport experience — wait times, queues, security checks, delays — tend to be more common at the mega airports.
Zooming out: Though worries about falling travel demand and spending plagued America in the first few months of 2025, the study also noted that a “record number of travellers” passed through the nation’s airports during the 12 months ending July 2025 as a whole, reflecting how the region’s leading airlines have seen demand slowly recover after a strong late summer season.
Topping the list was John Wayne Airport, Orange County, a hub in the “large airport” category (between 10 million and 32.9 million passengers per year) with a score of 730, closely followed by Indianapolis International Airport, which also held the top position amongst medium-sized airports (fewer than 10 million passengers a year) for the second consecutive year.
Notably, none of the mega-sized airports (with more than 33 million passengers per year) made it to the overall top 15, with its top scorer, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport coming with a much lower 660 points compared to that of other categories. That makes sense, as the things that have the ability to ruin our airport experience — wait times, queues, security checks, delays — tend to be more common at the mega airports.
Zooming out: Though worries about falling travel demand and spending plagued America in the first few months of 2025, the study also noted that a “record number of travellers” passed through the nation’s airports during the 12 months ending July 2025 as a whole, reflecting how the region’s leading airlines have seen demand slowly recover after a strong late summer season.
