Dallas Love Field and DFW International Airport ranked among the top five airports in North America for their respective categories in J.D. Power's annual survey of airport satisfaction.

The survey, graded on a 1,000-point scale, was based on more than 30,000 evaluations from U.S. or Canadian residents who traveled through at least one airport in one of those countries and covers both arrival and departure experiences during the past 30 days. The study was conducted from July of last year to July of this year.

For the second year in a row, Minneapolis Saint-Paul International Airport was ranked the best mega airport with 660 points. John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. and Indianapolis International Airport were ranked the best large and medium airports, with 730 points and 713 points, respectively.

DFW Airport earned three less points than last year, with 620, but moved up one spot to be named ranked the fourth-best airport in the mega airport category, which contains airports with more than 33 million passengers per year. Fort Worth-based American Airlines operates a fortress hub at DFW.

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"I would say that DFW has some of a natural advantage," Michael Taylor, J.D. Power's managing director of travel, hospitality and retail, told The Dallas Morning News in an interview. "They're doing a great job handling all the construction issues. Their food, beverage and retail program has improved quite a bit over the last couple of years. They got all the real estate out there and a good people mover system, so they're doing a lot of things really well."

Taylor also pointed to easy roadway access as another positive factor for DFW.

Love Field, the home base of Southwest Airlines, is defined as a large airport, those with 10 to 32.9 million passengers per year, and finished third in that category with 705 points, according to the study.

Taylor spoke glowingly of Love Field, likening it to a retail hub that happens to have airplanes.

"Love Field's done a lot of things really well over the years, they've had a good partnership with Southwest Airlines," said Taylor. "They changed the airport into something that looks more like a mall than an airport. I always describe it as a mall with airplanes parked outside of it." Taylor added that Love Field also has a popular food, beverage and retail program, as well as is easy to navigate.

The study, in its 20th year, measures traveler satisfaction across mega, large and medium North American airports by examining their experience in seven key areas:

Advertisementease of travel through the airport level of trust with the airport terminal facilities airport staffdeparture/to airport experiencefood/beverage/retailarrival/from airport experience

Overall satisfaction increased eight points for mega airports, 10 points for medium airports and 15 points for large airports, despite record number of passengers and widespread delays/cancellations, according to the study.

The study also found a correlation between passenger satisfaction and the amount of money they spend at the airport. Passengers who rated an airport as "perfect" spent an average of $42.39 in the terminal, $16.54 more than passengers who rated their experience as "just OK."

DFW, Love Field airports ranked among best in U.S.