Just in time for holiday travel, new airport ranking: Here’s how Charlotte did.
If you’re headed to Charlotte’s airport for holiday travel this Thanksgiving, prepare for a just about average experience.
That’s according to one 2022 ranking of the 20 largest U.S. airports by The Wall Street Journal. Charlotte-Douglas International Airport landed right in the middle of the list, at No. 9.
That’s pretty close to how Charlotte’s airport fared in a similar ranking earlier this year, when it landed 10th of 20 in a J.D . Power customer satisfaction survey. That report looked at travelers’ satisfaction with terminal facilities and retail offerings, among other factors.
The WSJ ranked airports based on a broader list of criteria, from on-time performance and security waits to customer-satisfaction score and ticket prices.
San Francisco and Atlanta topped the list, while two New York-area airports — John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty — ranked in the bottom two slots.
Charlotte’s airport ranked below Los Angeles and Houston, but above other Southern airports like Miami and Dallas/Fort Worth.
Are flights on time at CLT?
CLT scored high for on-time arrivals, with 83% of flights arriving on time, and flight cancellations. But it ranked among the lowest of the airports for airline market share. That’s because main carrier American Airlines dominates flight offerings here in Charlotte, meaning there’s less competition to drive down the cost of flights.
Charlotte-Douglas also had some of the highest ticket prices on the list, the ranking said.
On a more granular level, among all 20 airports, CLT ranked second-to-last for the price of a bottle of water. In Charlotte, it’ll cost you $3.79 to re-hydrate at the gate, second only to Las Vegas’ airport, where a bottle costs $4.29.
Charlotte-Douglas was one of the busiest airports in the world last year, ranked as fifth busiest for arrivals and departures, according to Airports Council International 2021 preliminary rankings.
The airport saw 519,895 arrivals and departures last year, and served 43 million customers.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport ranked a little closer to the top in WSJ’s ranking. The Triangle’s main airport was 10th of 30 mid-size airports, scoring high for airline market share and fast security clearance.
