Omaha airport’s marks are up in national satisfaction survey

Eppley earned 804 out of 1,000 possible points in a survey by the consumer marketing firm J.D. Power covering 63 major airports in the United States and Canada.

The highest-rated airport was Indianapolis International, with 843 points. At the bottom? Newark Liberty, at 732. The average score was 780.

Eppley’s score was up 13 points from the previous year, said Michael Taylor, a senior manager with J.D. Power — higher in all but one of six survey categories. Nationwide, the average increase was three points.

“Omaha’s done pretty well,” he said.

The J.D. Power survey asks respondents to rate any airport they have used in the previous 30 days in six categories, listed in order of importance in the final score: terminal facilities; airport arrival/departure; baggage claim; security check; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage and retail.

More than 27,000 people answered the survey nationwide, 150 of them for Eppley.

Eppley ranked 19th overall among all 63 airports. But it placed just 12th among the 16 in J.D. Power’s “Medium” airport category, which includes those boarding between 4.5 million and 9.9 million passengers.

Eppley’s score would have placed it eighth among 27 “Large” airports (boarding 10 million to 32.9 million passengers annually) and ahead of all 20 “Mega” airports, which board 33 million or more.

Indianapolis topped the Medium airport list. The leading “Large” airport was Tampa International, at 832 points. The leading “Mega” airport was Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County, with 800.

Taylor said smaller, less-crowded airports have a built-in advantage because they are typically easier to get to and easier to get through.

“People really prize a little bit of tranquility — the lack of hassle, lack of stress,” he said. “They were the happiest when no one was in the airport.”

Smaller airports’ disadvantage, Taylor said, is that they offer fewer food and shopping options than larger ones.

That was reflected in Eppley’s score. The one category in which Omaha’s airport dropped was food/beverage/retail. That’s an area where Eppley managers acknowledge the airport is lacking.

The survey results underscore the need for Omaha Airport Authority’s multiyear building program to refurbish Eppley, said Steve McCoy, the authority’s chief information and development officer.

“It’s really more justification for the capital improvements that are underway at the airport,” he said. “This is exactly why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

The last major terminal upgrades occurred in the 1980s. Then for 20 years, McCoy said, the Airport Authority focused its efforts on the airfield itself, expanding the runways, taxiways and ramps where the airplanes move.

In the mid-2010s, managers switched the focus of improvements to the terminal and areas that are more visible to airline passengers.

In the past two years, a new parking garage was built and improvements made to surface lots. The entry road was reconfigured and lengthened. Earlier this summer, work began on an all-weather canopy over the drop-off zone in front of the terminal.

The biggest part of Eppley’s transformation is yet to come, with the renovation of the main terminal. Airline ticket counters will be moved to the second floor, the two concourses will be joined together and accessed through a single security checkpoint, and restaurant and retail offerings expanded.

“We finished with the parking. Now we’re doing the passenger flow and the terminal,” McCoy said.

The project is currently in the design phase, he said, and construction could begin as early as next year. It will likely take about four years to complete.