SEATAC, Wash. — For the second year in a row, western Washington's largest airport ranks near the bottom of J.D. Power's customer satisfaction ratings.
After ranking 18th out of 20 "mega" airports in 2023, SEA Airport moved to 16th out of 20 in the 2024 edition. J.D. Power determines customer satisfaction through seven "core dimensions": ease of travel through airport; level of trust with airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure/to airport experience; food, beverage and retail; and arrival/from airport experience.
SEA reiterated that this year's ranking, like its spot in 2023, was expected due to all the ongoing construction involved in the $5 billion "Upgrade SEA" projects. An airport spokesperson said there are 120 projects in progress, many of which are in high-traffic areas.
J.D. Power said in its 2024 release that it "refined" the system of evaluating airports in this edition, and the latest results "are not comparable year over year" with previous-year studies. That being said, the same two "mega" airports rank last in 2024 and in 2023: Toronto Pearson and Newark Liberty. In the 2024 version, SEA now ranks ahead of Chicago's O'Hare International and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International with a 575 customer satisfaction score (on a 1,000-point scale).
SEA was 20 points below the "segment average" of 595, with Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport ranking first among "mega" airports with a 671. J.D. Power defines a "mega" airport as one with 33 million or more passengers per year.
The 2024 study is based on over 26,000 completed surveys from U.S. and Canadian residents.
While J.D. Power's rankings have SEA near the bottom in its category, other publications rank the airport among the best in the world. Skytrax's annual World Airport Awards saw SEA come in first among American airports and rank 24th in the world.
SEA is getting back to normal after a recent ransomware attack on the Port of Seattle took many of the airport's systems offline and caused data to be stolen by a criminal organization. The majority of the systems were brought back online within a week, according to the port. The airport said its system is fully restored for passengers.
