Air travelers more satisfied despite economic headwinds, study finds

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Nicky Omohundro of Oklahoma City has noticed a significant change in her frequent air travel experiences over the past year.

“I think for the most part, people are happier. We’re able to travel again, and more people are doing it,” said Omohundro, a travel expert, podcaster and digital publisher at Little Family Adventure.com who flies approximately one week every month for work.

“I enjoy the fact that most of my flights in the last 12 months have been on time. They haven’t been canceled as frequently. Airports are a better experience.”

Omohundro’s observations align with findings from the recently released J.D. Power 2025 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, which shows overall passenger satisfaction for North American airlines has increased six points from 2024 on a 1,000-point scale, despite economic challenges facing the industry.

The improvement comes even as the industry confronts what J.D. Power describes as the potential end of the “revenge travel” era, the trend when people splurged on vacations to compensate for time spent in lockdown.

The improved satisfaction is especially striking as domestic air passenger volume declined through the first quarter of 2025 and consumer confidence sank to its lowest level since the pandemic.

Study finds higher satisfaction

The study revealed that fewer than 10% of North American airline passengers experienced problems this year. Of those who did encounter issues, flight delays were the most common across all passenger segments. Customers who did not report problems had satisfaction scores that were 125 points higher on overall level of trust with the airline than those who experienced a problem.

As passenger satisfaction improves nationally, OKC Will Rogers International Airport is implementing various improvements to enhance the travel experience. Jeff Mulder, airport director, highlighted several initiatives aimed at reducing disruptions and improving passenger convenience. The airport has completed a website update last year that provides more information to the traveler about parking, security wait times, maps and service locations that help the traveler plan their trip through the airport.

The airport is in the process of replacing all its boarding bridges and inbound baggage carousels as well.

While the JD Power study notes that flight delays are the most common passenger complaint, Mulder explained that OKC Will Rogers is well-equipped to handle at least one major cause of such delays. The airport keeps a significant amount of snow/ice removal equipment that are deployed on the airfield to keep the airport open during winter storms, he said.

The airport is also planning significant infrastructure improvements to prevent baggage handling issues, which can be a major source of passenger dissatisfaction.

The airport also plans to upgrade its aging outbound baggage system this year, Mulder said.

In Tulsa, US Aviation recently announced a $6.8 million expansion project that will double its operational space with a new 51,972-square-foot hangar at Tulsa International Airport.

Public still has reservations

Despite positive trends in passenger satisfaction, the flying public still has reservations. Massive air traffic issues dominated the news in the past week when an outage at Newark Liberty International Airport last week caused ATC computer screens to go out for roughly 60 to 90 seconds. Controllers were prevented from talking to aircraft during that time, and the Federal Aviation Administration briefly halted all departures to the airport.

Following the outage, several controllers went on medical leave, calling the experience a traumatic event.

Controllers are entitled to at least 45 days away from the job and must be evaluated by a doctor before they can return to work.

These incidents, combined with recent crashes and ongoing concerns about air traffic control reliability, have contributed to passenger anxiety about air travel safety. Americans’ confidence in air travel dipped slightly, with 64% of U.S. adults saying plane travel is very or somewhat safe, down from 71% last year, according to an Associated Press-NORC poll. Public faith in the federal government’s ability to maintain air safety also dropped slightly.

“I know that there’s been a lot of flights cut recently, moving forward into the year, because not as many people are traveling due to economic reasons,” she said. “The news about cuts and incidents are also really concerning.”

Airline staff, brand loyalty critical

One of the study’s key findings emphasizes the importance of airline personnel to the passenger experience, with positive interactions with airline staff contributing to a 9-point increase in customer satisfaction in the economy/basic economy segment.

The end of mask mandates has also contributed to a more pleasant atmosphere for both passengers and staff, Omohundro said.

“When you have bad behavior from any customer, regardless of what your industry is, it’s going to set a bad tone, and you’re not going to look forward to going to work,” Omohundro said. “I do think that people are behaving much better now, which makes the work environment for airline staff so much better.”

The J.D. Power study found JetBlue Airways ranked highest in customer satisfaction in the first/business segment with a score of 738, followed by Delta Air Lines (724) and Alaska Airlines (709).

Delta Air Lines ranked highest in the premium economy segment for a third consecutive year with a score of 717, while Southwest Airlines led the economy/basic economy segment for a fourth consecutive year, scoring 694.

These findings resonate with local travelers like Tracey Zeeck, who recently relocated from Oklahoma City to Phoenix.

“I’ve had several very good travel experiences lately,” Zeeck said. “Flights have been on time, easy and with cheap upgrades. I also had amazingly decadent and accessible first-class upgrades on Air France and Delta to and from Paris recently.”

Omohundro, who has gold status with Delta, is a big believer in airline loyalty. She doesn’t mind paying a little extra for the perks she receives by sticking with one brand:

“I’ve flown them back when they were Northwest,” she said. “I know the service that I’m going to get. I also have lounge access and free bags, so that’s important for me.”

Looking ahead: Future improvements

Looking to the future, OKC Will Rogers International Airport has plans to address one of travelers’ key concerns of parking availability.

“OKC is in the design phase for a new parking garage that we expect to begin construction on in 2026,” Mulder said. “We consistently run out of garage covered spaces during our busy times of the year, and those are important to our travelers especially during storm events.”

He said the airport has added a new covered surface lot with 600 more spaces that will help to meet covered parking capacity demand until they can complete the new parking garage.

Mulder also noted a potential nationwide development that could improve air travel across the country. On Thursday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced plans for a new air traffic control system following coverage of out-of-date ATC systems and the air traffic controller shortage. Changes include swapping out old telecommunications for new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies; installing new modern hardware and software; replacing 618 old radars; and building six new air traffic control centers and replacing towers, the Transportation Department said.

OKC Will Rogers International Airport is among those listed for an upgrade to its Air Traffic Control system, which if enacted would help to reduce some of the delays and cancellations that airline passengers are experiencing, especially in large airports and markets.

The J.D. Power 2025 North America Airline Satisfaction Study was based on responses from 10,224 passengers who flew on a major North America airline within the month prior to completing the survey. The study was conducted from March 2024 through March 2025.