J.D. Power and Associates, the well-regarded surveyor of customer satisfaction rankings and similar, has conducted its 2007 North American Airport Satisfaction Index Study.

Guess which U.S. airport ranked the lowest in the large airport (those with 30 million passengers+/annum) category? Yeah, it's San Francisco International.

SFO was rated tied for the lowest in 7 of the 9 possible categories, with only the food/beverage and retail categories earning a lofty "about average" ranking. In other words, in airport accessibility, check-in/baggage check, security check, terminal facilities, baggage claim, immigration/customs control, and overall airport satisfaction, our local big hub is below average. Dallas/Fort Worth International was the big winner.

Oakland (OAK) and San Jose (SJC/Norm Mineta) fared a little better in their category of medium airport rankings (those with (10 million-less than 30 million passengers/annum) at 18th and 23rd respectively. Score-wise, OAK is the area winner at 679 out of 1,000, while SFO earned 665 points and SJC got 660.

So, if you can stand (or bypass) the poor public transportation to get there, it looks like Oakland's the way to go around here.