How does Harry Reid International rank in passenger satisfaction?
Harry Reid International Airport has been ranked the fifth best major airport in North America out of 20 in a customer satisfaction study by J.D. Power.
The Michigan-based global leader in consumer insights, advisory services, and data and analytics said the 2025 study is based on 30,439 completed surveys from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one U.S. or Canadian airport and covers both departure and arrival experiences, including connecting airports, during the past 30 days.
Reid, the airport that serves Las Vegas, finished fifth behind Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with a ranking score well above the national average.
Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power, said Reid’s biggest strength is its location.
“You can see the Strip from the airport and the airport from the Strip,” he said in an email. “Quick access to the airport has been one of its major strengths for many years.”
He also applauded the ease of navigating within the airport.
But it does have some weaknesses, he added.
Signature food
“Its only significant deficiency is having an outstanding food and beverage program and that’s not necessarily the fault of the concessionaires or management. Most outstanding food and beverage airports have signature foods, such as gumbo in New Orleans, barbecue in Kansas City or Caribbean food in Miami. But what is the signature food of Las Vegas? If the airport can come up with some exciting food and beverage concepts, they have a very good chance of returning to the top spot in the J.D. Power survey.”
J.D. Power had three categories of airports based on number of annual arrivals and departures. Reid’s placement was among airports with 33 million or more annual arrivals and departures.
Improvements ahead
Reid International is embarking on a multimillion-dollar improvement program that will expand the number of available gates from 39 to 65 and separate interterminal traffic from airport bypasses. New escalators and baggage carousels are being added to improve passenger and baggage flow, and newly appointed Clark County Department of Aviation Director James Chrisley said some new airport lounges would be opening soon.
Despite record numbers of passengers and widespread flight cancellations and delays, overall satisfaction increased by eight points for North America’s largest airports, J.D. Power’s report said.
Taylor said one of the bigger drivers of this year’s increase in passenger satisfaction is food, beverage and retail programs, which improved 14 points year over year across all airport segments. Airport efforts to incorporate authentic local food and beverage brands into their terminal offerings have helped to fuel that increase, Taylor said.
Improved satisfaction rankings are important to an airport because J.D. Power research indicates passengers who rate their airport experience as “perfect” spend an average of $42.39 in the terminal. That is $16.54 more than passengers who rate their airport experience as “just OK.” Perfect experiences are rare, however, occurring in just 11 percent of journeys through the airport.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.