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

and in pocket-size booklets.

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."

Zagat also made note of the major PDX renovation a decade ago that left the airport positioned to handle future traffic.

Earlier this year, PDX launched a customer service initiative for 10,000 people who work at the airport, with the goal of maintaining a high level of service.

"Having a customer service initiative in place helps keep everyone who works at the airport focused on service," said Steve Johnson, spokesman for the Port of Portland, which operates the airport.