Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - A recent study released by JD Power ranks Buffalo Niagara International Airport as one of the best medium airports in not just the country, but also North America.
The North America Airport Satisfaction Study, now in its 20th year, measures overall passenger satisfaction with mega, large and medium North American airports by examining their experience across seven core dimensions (in order of importance):
- Ease of travel through airport
- Level of trust with airport
- Terminal facilities
- Airport staff
- Departure/to airport experience
- Food, beverage and retail
- Arrival/from airport experience
Buffalo Niagara International Airport falls into the medium category of airports with 4.5-to-9.9 million passengers going through the airport each year.
According to JD Power's findings, Buffalo earned an overall customer satisfaction index ranking of 698, just three points ahead of Jacksonville International Airport in Jacksonville, Fla. The only airports finishing ahead of Buffalo Niagara International Airport were Ontario International Airport (709) in Southern California and Indianapolis International Airport (713).
The results of this study is always exciting news for Pascal Cohen, Senior Manager of Aviation Marketing with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA).
"Every year, it's kind of like Christmas for us when this study comes out," said Cohen in an interview with WBEN. "Back in 2018, we were ranked No. 1, which was excellent. Since then, we took a bit of a drop, predominantly because of COVID, but we also had a lot of construction going on. We did a baggage claim expansion and a lot of upgrades, so we had construction. But ever since 2020, we've been steadily climbing back up. Last year, we were ranked No. 5, and two years ago, we were ranked No. 3. We're back at No. 3, so if everything goes right with this path, hopefully we'll be back at No. 1 before we know it."
Cohen feels this study, which JD Power calls the "voice of the customer", really shows how well the Buffalo Niagara International Airport is being perceived by customers.
"This study is 100% based on surveys. It's what consumers tell JD Power. They don't come to town and test our chicken wings. they rely on customers to tell them about our chicken wings," Cohen said.
"It's an ongoing battle that takes an entire village and an entire team. It's not just NFTA people. It's every one of our airlines on here, our parking operators. It's truly a team effort."
Cohen says the airport takes pride in making air travel as easy as possible by making sure things like the TSA checkpoint is well staffed, parking shuttles run on time, and ensuring that customer satisfaction is as high as possible.
"A lot of our customers are Canadian, so it's the ease of our airport that is really important for Canadians and locals alike. Our checkpoint only is about 12 minutes peak wait time, that's a fraction of the time that you would find at the Toronto Airport," he noted. "But other things like local food is very important in these rankings. We have, obviously, Tim Hortons here, which is a brand that Canadians like but also locals like, the Anchor Bar, those kind of things are all helping us in our rankings. But yes, just the overall facilities, how fast our TSA is, the whole package, really."
So where does Cohen feels there's continued room for improvement that may help Buffalo Niagara International Airport climb the rankings even higher?
"I think getting some more food offerings still to make it even more diverse is going to help, and that's about to happen. We are actually about to open a pre-security bar and food offering, kind of in the waiting area where you wait for people to come out. Delaware North is opening a bar that's slated to open up probably in the next little bit over a month. That's going to help," Cohen pointed out. "And then we're always looking for more exciting things to keep people entertained. We have a bit of a partnership with AKG that runs a little art gallery at the airport, so they're doing some more exhibits. Partnering with other local culturals, I think Shea's is going to be participating soon. Those are all fun things to keep folks entertained while they're waiting for their flight."