JIA cited as America's best airport

[tufsu1]

I'm not sure about the older ones. For the last few years, whenever I've had to fly into Charlotte's airport, it's been to the newer concourses.

they don't really have any old concourses....and the smell of Cinnabon wafting through the atrium area is unbeatable

[IrvAdams]

Love the rocking chairs in Jax main concourse. Nice touch.

[CityLife]

Every time I've ever had out of towners fly into or out of JIA, they've mentioned how much they love our airport. We probably take it for granted, but it is a clean, relatively stress free place to get in and out of.

[fsujax]

JIA is a great airport. Easy, clean, new looking, not super busy, etc. Can't beat it.

[Lunican]

JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.

Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent. I know United has very limited staff. The gate agent works the check-in counter outside security and then walks to the gate to get everyone boarded. This leaves one spot unstaffed so if you need something resolved at the ticket counter you have to wait for the previous flight to leave and the agent to walk back over.

However, arriving 30 minutes prior to departure is hard to beat.

[ben says]

JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.

Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent. I know United has very limited staff. The gate agent works the check-in counter outside security and then walks to the gate to get everyone boarded. This leaves one spot unstaffed so if you need something resolved at the ticket counter you have to wait for the previous flight to leave and the agent to walk back over.

However, arriving 30 minutes prior to departure is hard to beat.

Nonstop flights are limited, yes...but some of us don't mind, especially if you rely on segments verses miles to hit different levels of airline loyalty/status.

Basically, almost any destination in the world is 1 stop away (ATL/MIA/JFK/CLT/LGA/ORD/DFW/DTW/ETC). I'm cool with that.

[tufsu1]

JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.

Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent.

what, you don't consider Silver Airways puddle jumper to the Bahamas as international?

[ProjectMaximus]

JIA is pretty nice and easy to get through, but it has its limitations.

Nonstop flights are limited and international flights non-existent.

what, you don't consider Silver Airways puddle jumper to the Bahamas as international?

And Jetblue is cutting the Puerto Rico flight to a seasonal route. No more winters (which is when I would have gone)

[simms3]

The JIA airport is certainly clean, small, efficient, and attractive.  However, I have waited in that security line longer than I've waited in lines at Hartsfield and JFK (which is typically the longest line of all the airports I routinely fly in and out of), and for architectural appeal, it's hard to beat Raleigh's newer terminal (also a super efficient airport).

From a user friendly standpoint, yes, JIA ranks up there.  However, 90% of the time I fly it's for work and I just want a direct flight (with options for times) to and from my destination, and that is not something you get from JIA.  Friends and family from Jax have to connect to visit me (and my airport is one of the largest in country) and often the planes that fly in and out of JIA are regional jets.

Bottom line is that the airport itself from an experiential standpoint might garner praise from "Airport Magazine" (or some industry publication), but its tiny size is probably a huge business hindrance for the city as a whole.  Something to be said for direct flights on newer, larger planes with business class and multiple routes run a day (not to mention the whole international connection thing).

I would love Jax to remain "small" feeling, clean, and efficient.  But I would love for it to become the size of FTL, Tampa, Midway, Pittsburgh, etc.  Nashville's, Oakland's, Hartford's, Indy's, or Raleigh's size at bare minimum.  More flight options is always better than fewer.

[Lunican]

I was going to mention Raleigh's new terminal. One of the nicest I've seen. Atlanta's international terminal is also nice.

[jcjohnpaint]

I just flew to Raleigh a year ago and was also blown away by their airport.  Also, one of the best art museums in NC. 

[johnny_simpatico]

It's a gorgeous airport, but among its peers in the FAA Medium Hub class, JIA is one of the biggest losers with respect to passenger declines since 2007.  Looking over this list, the Medium Hubs that suffered tended tended to be places like Cincinnati that are being dehubbed by the so-called legacy carriers.  The second group that suffered are secondary airports. Then there are the odd ducks like JAX and ABQ.  With a growing population, one would expect JAX traffic to increase, no?


      Total Passengers         
Market   Code   2007   2013   Chg   % Chg
Cincinnati   CVG   14,863,624   5,273,892   (9,589,732)   -64.5%
Memphis   MEM   10,790,799   4,652,700   (6,138,099)   -56.9%
Ontario   ONT   7,022,082   3,907,437   (3,114,645)   -44.4%
Oakland   OAK   14,488,398   9,666,913   (4,821,485)   -33.3%
Burbank   BUR   5,897,188   3,938,572   (1,958,616)   -33.2%
Albuquerque   ABQ   7,197,691   5,345,993   (1,851,698)   -25.7%
Cleveland   CLE   10,783,686   8,430,083   (2,353,603)   -21.8%
Jacksonville   JAX   6,455,061   5,112,093   (1,342,968)   -20.8%
Sacramento   SMF   10,845,241   8,592,572   (2,252,669)   -20.8%
San Jose   SJC   10,587,993   8,421,946   (2,166,047)   -20.5%
Pittsburgh   PIT   9,166,600   7,442,606   (1,723,994)   -18.8%
West Palm Beach   PBI   6,695,067   5,445,003   (1,250,064)   -18.7%
Kansas City   MCI   12,151,330   9,962,306   (2,189,024)   -18.0%
San Juan   SJU   8,438,317   7,189,220   (1,249,097)   -14.8%
Hartford   BDL   6,098,359   5,196,341   (902,018)   -14.8%
Indianapolis   IND   7,973,772   6,904,230   (1,069,542)   -13.4%
St. Louis   STL   14,748,622   12,824,879   (1,923,743)   -13.0%
Milwaukee   MKE   7,406,266   6,443,832   (962,434)   -13.0%
Orange County   SNA   9,945,419   8,724,917   (1,220,502)   -12.3%
Raleigh/Durham   RDU   9,763,676   8,703,611   (1,060,065)   -10.9%
Columbus   CMH   6,765,328   6,051,909   (713,419)   -10.5%
Kahului   OGG   6,209,672   5,583,128   (626,544)   -10.1%
Omaha   OMA   4,296,789   3,917,933   (378,856)   -8.8%
Fort Myers   RSW   7,667,172   7,129,503   (537,669)   -7.0%
Anchorage   ANC   4,617,630   4,444,930   (172,700)   -3.7%
San Antonio   SAT   7,948,313   7,728,722   (219,591)   -2.8%
Dallas Love Field   DAL   8,806,193   8,606,817   (199,376)   -2.3%
Buffalo   BUF   5,192,956   5,083,016   (109,940)   -2.1%
Nashville   BNA   10,313,033   10,395,913   82,880    0.8%
Portland   PDX   14,096,028   14,302,273   206,245    1.5%
Austin   AUS   8,759,871   9,971,413   1,211,542    13.8%
Houston Hobby   HOU   9,587,942   11,417,357   1,829,415    19.1%
New Orleans   MSY   7,565,198   9,193,804   1,628,606    21.5%
               
Total Medium Hubs      293,145,316   246,005,864   (47,139,452)   -16.1%

[jcjohnpaint]

I hear a lot of our residents who like in St. Johns Co and south just go to Orlando.  When I had my show at JIA, the director told me the airport is loosing a ton to Orlando International. 

[I-10east]

Then there are the odd ducks like JAX and ABQ.  With a growing population, one would expect JAX traffic to increase, no

There's sure alot of other 'odd ducks' (besides just Jax and Albuquerque) with all of those mid tier cities with growing populations, that have declined airline passengers; That list had more in that category than anything else. Only 5 airports had increased ridership. Seems like it's an overall economic situation more than anything with all of these declines.

[thelakelander]

I hear a lot of our residents who like in St. Johns Co and south just go to Orlando.  When I had my show at JIA, the director told me the airport is loosing a ton to Orlando International. 

I'm one of those that fly out of Tampa and Orlando moreso than Jacksonville.