Passengers like LAX more this year, warts and all. But Portland, Ore., airport is what they really love

We love construction-clogged LAX more than you might imagine. But we don’t love it as much as the airports in Portland, Ore., or Indianapolis.

Those are the results of the J.D. Power 2016 North America Airports Satisfaction Study, released Thursday. The study ranks large and midsize airports according to customer satisfaction on a 1,000-point scale.

It evaluates the facilities based on terminals; accessibility, security checks, baggage claim, check-in/baggage check and food, beverage and retail service.

Portland International Airport, whose now-departed carpeting was — inexplicably, some say — the object of much of the public’s affection (it has its own Facebook page), has many things to recommend it, said Michael Taylor, director of airport practice for J.D. Power.

The king of the hill in the large-size-airport category offers excellent access and gives a sense of place, which is an important part of how we feel about an airport, he said.

“It tells you, ‘I’m in the Northwest,’” Taylor said.

Merchandise and food and drink, including the craft beer for which Portland is renowned, are Northwest-centric, which was partly responsible for the airport’s 786 score. Nearly 39,000 travelers took part in the survey fielded from January through October.

Indianapolis International Airport was No. 1 in the midsize category, with 794 points.

Ontario International Airport was No. 6 in this group. Orange County’s John Wayne Airport and the Burbank Bob Hope Airport were 19 and 20, respectively, among the 33 airports evaluated.

What put Indianapolis at the top? Taylor cited its open spaces, which give travelers a bit of breathing room.

And that’s part of the issue with the nation’s airports, the report said. They were not designed to handle the number of passengers who tromp through them every day.

LAX, whose beginnings date to the 1920s, started commercial airline service in 1946. It has updated, of course, and that continues with a current $14-billion improvement plan.

Passengers collect their belongings at United’s Terminal 7 at LAX, which has automated screening lanes through security. The baggage claim area also is being renovated.

(Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times )

The airport served almost 75 million passengers in 2015. In 2005, it handled 61.5 million.

Despite the construction that’s part of the improvement plan, the airport scored 702, better than Boston’s Logan International, Chicago’s O’Hare International, Philadelphia International, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International and New York’s LaGuardia, which were at the bottom of the pack.

That’s a 32-point improvement that Taylor credits in part to the completion of Terminal 2. Like Portland’s airport, Terminal 2 exudes an L.A.-flavor.

“A third of the new shops … in Terminal 2 are specific to Los Angeles,” Taylor said. “Those are brands and concepts that you would only find in Los Angeles.

“People really respond to that. Local brands make the passengers happier. There’s something to shop for and something to eat,” Taylor said, adding that food and retail add to the revenue stream, a win-win.

LAX may not fare quite as well in the future as construction continues to create problems. “The airport’s U-shaped layout will make access an issue during renovations,” Taylor said in remarks about the study.

LAX may have 100 million passengers by 2040, the Southern California Assn. of Governments estimated in a July 2015 Los Angeles Times article.

If that takes your breath away, consider this: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is already there. It is expecting 100 million by the end of the year.

Putting that into perspective, Taylor noted that Atlanta’s passenger count is the equivalent of about a third of the U.S. population passing through “a few buildings in Georgia.”

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