Phoenix Sky Harbor tops ranking of country’s best large airports

PHOENIX — The state’s largest airport continues to rack up recognition for its quality.

Phoenix Sky Harbor on Wednesday was named the country’s best large airport of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal.

Sky Harbor overtook Denver International Airport for the top spot in the ranking, which included the top 20 largest airports in the country.

Last year, Phoenix finished No. 3 behind Denver and Orlando, Florida.

“Sky Harbor is the gateway to our state and the largest economic engine in Arizona,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a press release. “It’s wonderful to see the airport being recognized for its focus on customer service, reliability and convenience on a national platform.”

The newspaper ranked airports on 15 total measures spread across three main categories — operations, value and convenience.

Sky Harbor fared well in every category, but improvements in a couple of areas helped it ascend to the top spot.

The airport jumped from No. 18 to No. 2 in Wi-Fi speed, and its average Yelp rating for restaurants improved from No. 7 to No. 3.

Even with its top ranking, there are still areas in which Sky Harbor can improve, according to the newspaper.

It ranked No. 19 in the number of nonstop cities served and No. 15 in longest walk from the curb to the farthest gate.

Denver, Detroit, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were the other airports that made the top five.

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