Losing altitude: Pittsburgh International Airport's traveler satisfaction rating plummets in one study

By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh International Airport is experiencing a rough landing in one survey of travelers.

Two years after getting the second-highest ranking in the J.D. Power North America Airport Satisfaction Study, Pittsburgh International has plummeted to next to last in the latest review.

The only one lower among medium-sized airports was Cleveland.

Michael Taylor, one of the researchers involved in the study, attributed the decline to the big boost in traffic volume the airport has been seeing in recent months.

When passenger counts go up, ratings tend to fall, he said.

“That has a negative effect on overall satisfaction,” he noted, although he added that rising traveler numbers are typically “a problem airports want to have.”

This year, Pittsburgh International experienced its busiest July since 2005, with more than 962,000 travelers arriving and departing. In June, it reported the highest traffic of any month in 19 years, with 970,800 people using the Findlay airport.

Capacity in June also reached its highest level since May 2007, with the airlines providing 1.2 million seats, up 21.5% over the same month in 2023.

The increase in traffic volume has caused some issues. The biggest has involved epic early morning lines at the airport’s security checkpoint. Some travelers have waited three hours or more to get through security. The jams in some cases have resulted in missed flights.

In a bid to handle the crowds, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration designated the airport’s alternate checkpoint on the ticketing level for TSA PreCheck passengers only from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m.

The airport also has advised travelers to arrive up to three hours early for morning flights, and it has worked with the airlines to open ticket counters about a half an hour earlier.

Pittsburgh International is also in the throes of a big construction project — another factor that can cause a plunge in satisfaction ratings, according to Mr. Taylor.

Work on the airport’s $1.57 billion modernization, which includes construction of a new landside building for ticketing, security and baggage claim, is in full swing, with completion scheduled for next year.

The work has prompted restrictions on airport roadways and forced travelers to navigate around the construction inside the terminal to get to and from their flights.

In a statement, Bob Kerlik, airport spokesman, said that “it’s no surprise that during peak construction of the new terminal our ranking has dipped.”

“We're excited that the new terminal opening next year will be reflective of today’s thriving Pittsburgh while cutting the time in half for passengers to get from curb to gate, offering a streamlined security checkpoint experience, faster baggage claim, world-class technology, improved accessibility, expanded food and beverage options, and additional parking. In the meantime, we continue to work to minimize travel disruptions for passengers during construction,” he said.

The J.D. Power study measured airports in seven categories — ease of travel through the airport; level of trust with the airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure/to airport experience; food, beverage, and retail; and arrival/from airport experience.

Mr. Taylor declined to give a breakdown of the Pittsburgh International scores, saying that J.D. Power does not give out such specific data.

Now in its 19th year, the study was revised this year to try to be more discriminating in terms of the overall customer experience. It covered the period from August 2023 to July 2024.

Pittsburgh is ranked among medium airports with 4.5 million to 9.9 million passengers a year. Its score of 625 out of 1,000 was 62 points lower than Indianapolis International, the top ranked airport in that category. It was also 21 points below the average.

Indianapolis tied John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, as the top-rated overall among mega-, large-, and medium-sized airports measured in the study.

In announcing the overall findings, J.D. Power stated that crowded airports can affect satisfaction. It determined that terminals perceived as “not at all crowded” had an average satisfaction score of 736, while those viewed as “severely crowded” had an average score of 429.

The study also found that travelers on average spent $3.53 less per person on food, beverages and other items at airports than they did last year. At large airports, they shelled out $6.31 less per person.

Nonetheless, despite big crowds, cancellations and delays, travelers seemed pleased with airports as a whole, with 60% saying they “somewhat agree” or “strongly agree” that they enjoyed spending time there.

The study, which covered both departure and arrival experiences, was based on 26,290 completed surveys from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport between August 2023 and July.