Convenience Of "Going Small" Makes Up For Lack Of Perks For Many

When it comes to improving your odds of finding a parking space, getting through security as quickly as possible, or making a connecting flight with time to spare... smaller airports offer significant advantages over their larger counterparts, according to a recent JD Power and Associates study.

If that sounds a little like concluding the sky is blue, well, you're right... but the number of travelers who prefer small airports for the reasons above cannot be ignored, according to USA Today. For many people, the increased convenience more than offsets smaller airports' relative lack of services, like upscale restaurants and shops.

"Small airports may not have all the services and amenities travelers desire, but they are convenient," says JD Powers' Jim Gaz.

And in an age when the words "commercial airport" have become synonymous with "hassle," or "root canal" in the minds of many travelers... convenience wins the day. That's evident in the latest JD Powers survey of major US airports, which puts Houston's Hobby Airport at the very top of the list in customer satisfaction, for the second year in a row.

In all, five smaller airports -- defined as handling fewer than 10 million passengers in 2006 -- each scored higher than the best-scoring mega-airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International. Like DFW, four of those smaller airports -- Hobby, Dallas Love Field, San Antonio International, and El Paso International -- are located in Texas; the fifth small field earning kudos was Connecticut's Bradley International.

But amenities remain important to travelers. Hobby's high numbers have at least a little to do with improvements made to the terminal in 2004 (shown above), according to Airport Manager Mary Case. New shops and restaurants followed, along with "soothing" music in the terminal, and even an outdoor fitness trail.

"Hobby is very easy to navigate and very compact for a traveler to make connections," says Crawford. "The décor is fairly modern, and it has Wi-Fi capabilities and more than decent dining and retail choices."

Curiously, the lowest-scoring small airport in the JD Power study -- Austin-Bergstrom International, once again in Texas -- earned the highest marks for customer service in a survey conducted earlier this year by Airports Council International.

ACI noted AUS "has the best ambience of any airport in North America," and scored well in baggage claim, according to airport spokesman Jim Halbrook; the JD Power survey gives Austin poor marks in speed of delivering checked luggage.

As evidenced by Austin's conflicting satisfaction reports, travelers have different opinions on what's important in an airport, large or small.

"By far, my favorite two airports in the country are Ohio's Akron-Canton and California's Long Beach," says traveler Sammy Tawil. "I can get out of the plane, in my rental car and on the highway in 10 minutes or less. It would take up to an hour to do that at the big airports nearby in Cleveland and Los Angeles."

Long Beach also scored low on the JD Power survey.

Other travelers, such as Jim Mallory, favor large airports due to the added room. "Give me a big city airport any day," he says. "Chances are, the corridors will be wide, and there will be plenty of restrooms close by."

FMI: www.jdpower.com, www.airports.org