Here’s where the Sunport ranked in J.D. Power’s latest study

Increased passenger activity and recent construction may have dropped the Albuquerque International Sunport in the latest J.D. Power study, but the renovations taking place at the airport may also help in the future.

That’s according to Mike Taylor, practice lead for J.D. Power’s 2024 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, who spoke with the Journal about the Sunport’s current ranking of 12th amongst airports in the “medium” size category.

The latest study, put together using nearly 30,000 surveys from travelers across the United States, shows the Sunport dropping from fifth place in the study in 2023. The Sunport’s recent ranking received a score of 646 — also the segment average — on a 1,000-point scale.

“A lot of things impact that (score),” Taylor said. “The more people in the airport, the less satisfaction. … If you have construction and it affects the ability of people to get to the airport and do the things they want to do, it usually slows them down, throws them off.

“You have to break some eggs to make an omelet. Eventually, construction will stop and obviously they’ll have some improvements to the airport, and I would expect them to go back up.”

The ranking for the Sunport comes as it undergoes its “Dream of Flight” renovation, a $90 million upgrade that is reimagining retail and food offerings at the Albuquerque airport and which has increased and relocated the TSA area, along with other behind-the-scenes changes.

The study took into account surveys from August 2023 through July 2024, Taylor said, which has been a time of increased passenger activity for the Sunport. From 2022-2023, said Sunport spokeswoman Leah Black, passenger volume increased by 11.5% with an increase also expected from 2023-2024.

While J.D. Power said it has changed its methodology — making it harder to compare year-to-year rankings — the surveys completed by travelers include questions on “seven core dimensions,” including the ease of travel through an airport; level of trust with an airport; terminal facilities; airport staff; departure/to airport experience; food, beverage and retail; and arrival/from airport experience.

The Sunport’s rankings, while a drop in overall ranking in the medium category from last year, is also one of the higher scores amongst the three categories, which also include “large airports” and “mega airports.” The Sunport’s score is higher than that of any airport in the “mega” category with the exception of the No. 1 ranked Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

“The medium category is actually the most competitive of the three categories,” said Black. “Our score of 646 out of the 1,000-point scale places us at the top third of airports across all of the categories, even ahead of Denver International and Phoenix Sky Harbor.”

Taylor, on the other hand, said the “medium” category is more competitive because “people tend to like easier to access, easier to navigate and less crowded airports.”

The highest-ranked airport in the Sunport’s category, which ranks airports that have between 4.5 to 9.9 million passengers per year, was the Indianapolis International Airport, which had a score of 687. The bottom-ranked airport in the “medium” category was the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at 580.

Taylor said about 158 surveys were from Albuquerque.

“Our minimum to be ranked is 100 because statistically that gives us a plus or minus of about 10% — so 158 is not a bad sample. Not a good sample, but … we find it to be very statistically reliable,” Taylor said.

Despite the drop, Black believes the Sunport has better days ahead thanks to the changes the airport is making.

“We are confident that we will once again rise up in the rankings after our Dream of Flight renovation is complete,” she said.