Why Philadelphia International Airport Was Just Ranked Worst in the Country

A plane taking off from Philadelphia International Airport, which was just ranked as the worst airport in the country by J.D. Power; photo via Philadelphia International Airport

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Why JD Power Just Ranked Philadelphia International Airport the Worst Airport In the Country

Having flown in and out of Philadelphia International Airport (and been delayed at Philadelphia International Airport) one too many times, it’s fair to say that I don’t have a burning desire to get on a plane there anytime soon. That said, could Philadelphia International Airport actually be the worst airport in the country? Yes, says a new report.

Now, people send us lots of lists and rankings. Way too many, in fact. And sometimes the rankings seem pretty arbitrary and we’re left to wonder how they come up with this stuff. But in this case, the airport ranking doesn’t come from some dude in his parents’ basement with too much time on his hands and an internet connection. It comes from the renowned market research firm J.D. Power, formerly known as J.D. Power & Associates. Not sure what J.D. did with the associates.

J.D. Power just released its 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study and, yes, Philadelphia International Airport falls squarely at the bottom of the rankings. Over the last year, J.D. Power surveyed more than 26,000 travelers from airports all over the country. They asked those surveyed to rate airports on seven factors. And those factors are:

• Terminal facilities
• Airport staff
• How easy it was to travel through the airport
• Retail and food experience
• What it was like arriving at or getting to the airport
• What it was like leaving the airport once you’ve landed
• How much trust they placed with the airport

Then, J.D. Power crunched the numbers, computing a score out of 1,000 possible points. It’s telling that no airport could climb above 700 points. The highest-ranked airports of all tied at 687. Those top airports were John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, and Indianapolis International Airport. Philadelphia International Airport received a pitiful 541 points.

J.D. Power also broke their rankings down by airport size: Mega-airports, large airports (that category includes Philadelphia) and medium airports. In our category, we were even bested by miserable Chicago-Midway and freaking LaGuardia. The average score in our size group was 629. And f you’re thinking, Well, I’ll just drive to Newark when I need to fly, unfortunately Newark fell at the bottom of the mega-airports list with 552 points.

A Teen Terrorist?

Last year, I broke the news that police had arrested the teenage son of Philadelphia lawyer Qawi Abdul-Rahman on terrorism charges. At the time, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said he intended to move the case from juvenile court to adult court. And then we waited. And then we waited some more. On Wednesday, Krasner announced that he had finally charged Muhyyee-Ud-din Abdul-Rahman as an adult. A judge set bail at $5 million. Naturally, the case has made national news, and we’ll be following it for a long time to come.

By the Numbers

$50 million: Amount the Sixers have offered Chinatown as part of a “community benefit agreement.” Some might call that blood money.

1: Number of Chinese restaurants (or any Asian restaurants, for that matter) left in what was once Pittsburgh’s Chinatown neighborhood. And guess what huge development project sits right across the street? Yep, a sports arena. The restaurant is the Chinatown Inn, and if you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh, you really must pay it a visit as I did during this 2023 road trip with my family.

Local Talent

If you’re a fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies or, perhaps more accurately, a fan of the music in M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, you should know that the local movie director is hosting an evening of performances of that music at the Kimmel Center’s Marian Anderson Hall on Friday night. I love some of Shyamalan’s movies. But I gotta be honest: If you paid me $500 right now, I couldn’t even begin to hum one of the tunes.