Pair of airports power up

Florida airports, and in particular the two largest airports on the Gulf Coast, are national leaders in customer satisfaction, according to new data from J.D. Power and Associates.

Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers is No. 3 on J.D. Power's medium-size list, only three points behind the leader, Indianapolis International Airport. Jacksonville International Airport is No. 4 on the list, one point behind Fort Myers. Palm Beach International Airport is No. 6.

Tampa International Airport, with a score of 775 on a 1,000-point scale, is ranked No. 2 in the large airport category, behind only Portland (Ore.) International Airport, with 786 points. It's the second straight year TIA came in second behind Portland in the J.D. Power survey, which has been raking airports since 2005.

The top five on the largest airport list include two more in Florida behind Tampa: Orlando International, with 751 points, is No. 4, followed by Miami International, which has 750 points. The No. 3 airport is Las Vegas McCarran International.

The survey measures overall traveler satisfaction in six factors: terminal facilities; airport accessibility; security check; baggage claim; check-in/baggage check; and food, beverage and retail. The survey is based on responses from nearly 40,000 travelers who came through one of the airports in the last three months.