Portland's airport was rated the best in the country for the second year in a row, according to the annual Zagat Airline Survey.
New York-based Zagat publishes dozens of annual hospitality and travel surveys. Its air travel survey used data from 8,007 frequent flyers. Results are published at zagat.com and in pocket-size booklets.
Portland International Airport also finished first in four of the past five years among domestic airports for business travelers, according to a Conde Nast Traveler magazine survey.
Zagat's survey shows airports that aren't too big can offer the best service. Joining Portland in the top five were Tampa, Salt Lake City, Detroit and Denver. The bottom five, in the survey of 30 airports, were LaGuardia (New York), Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Kennedy (New York).
"Portland does well in our surveys because it's a lighter traffic airport," said Tim Zagat, company president. "It's much easier to deal with customers in a smaller airport. Airports that tend to do the worst have the highest traffic.
"Portland also is more customer friendly because you people seem to be nicer than the rest of us. That comes through in the quality of service."
