An airport’s purpose is to help you get somewhere. So the best airports are the ones which do that most efficiently.
- They are easy to get to (close to where people are coming from and going, with convenient transportation options)
- They are easy to get through (parking and rental car return near the terminal, security near the airport entrance, and gates near security, an efficient baggage system so that airlines that try to deliver bags quickly like Delta and Alaska may do so)
- They are easy for planes to get in and out of quickly (no congested alleys, sufficient taxi and runway capacity)
High-end retail helps pay for an airport, since the airport is taking a cut of sales (and often the airlines are, too). But the shopping experience isn’t integral to what makes a great airport.
Airports should also be clean; offer sufficiently staffed food and sundries options for travelers staying a variety of lengths of time; have decent lounge and shower facilities if international connecting gateways; and offer enough space around gates with seating, power ports, and wifi.
And that’s why J.D. Power’s list of best airports is so weird.
- They show San Diego as average, Houston Hobby as below average and LaGuardia as worse than that, Washington’s National airport as even worse still, and probbaly only nails that Philadephia is absolute rock bottom among large airports.
- Among ‘mega airports’ Minneapolis and Detroit are listed at the top (they are good!) but followed by Phoenix which is trash.
New York JFK is listed as sixth best, which seems insane, but no more so than listing Miami as 8th best and ahead of San Francisco which is actually more than decent.
Denver, at least, is listed as being below average along with Atlanta, LAX and Chicago O’Hare with Charlotte and Newark being the two worst in the category in the U.S.
What’s The Best Airport In The United States For A Major City?
My favorite U.S. airport is Washington National. It is close to the city center, well-connected by public transit, and all connections at the airport can be made on foot (going to or from Southwest, Frontier, Air Canada and other airlines requires re-clearing security).
It’s a beautiful facility, with my favorite American Airlines lounge, plus United and Delta lounges, as well as options from American Express and Capital One.
American Airlines Admirals Club, E Concourse
Capital One Landing
Even the terminal 1 ‘banjo’ has its charms, even if it lacks for amenities.
And the historic lobby is a special place. Too bad it’s now just used for events.
Now that they’ve gotten rid of gate 35X, and connected all of the terminal 2 concourses behind security, it’s the airport is a much better experience overall. I don’t like backups into passenger chutes to exit into baggage claim, and I don’t like slot controls, but overall my complaints about this airport are few.
Notably, Washington’s Dulles airport does not offer nearly this same experience. It is far from the city. Once you reach the airport you’re still nowhere near your gates. And the major tenant of the airport, United, still operates out of ‘temporary’ gates built in the 1980s.
What’s The Worst Major City Airport In America?
Passengers in the American Airlines D terminal spent months walking up to a mile between gates because of safety issues with the terminal’s train. With DCA’s gate 35X gone, there may be no worse gate in America than Miami’s D60.
Yet surely the Denver airport is actually much worse. It’s nowhere near the actual city of Denver. It has the worst TSA setup in the country with consistently the longest waits to clear security.
The airport’s train system keeps breaking down. Denver’s airport has been a disaster for the past 30 years – since the time leading up to its opening. Case studies in failure have been written about its baggage handling system.
The airport is terrible to get to and from, and to get out to its gates and back, for local passengers. In fairness, if you’re only using it as a connecting airport the experience isn’t nearly so bad. And the lounges, though crowded, are good!
What’s The Most Overrated Airport In The Country?
This one is easy: New York LaGuardia. It went from a dump that was still easy to get through, with security by the entrances and gates right behind those checkpoints, to a suburban shopping mall with much longer walks.
To be sure, the old Central Terminal was ugly and leaking.
Yet for all the renovation, we didn’t get the airport any better connected to the city, and we didn’t get an additional runway. Instead, we traded the future stream of retail income for more attractive buildings. I will die on the hill that this was the wrong way to prioritize limited resources. Yet the airport is now hailed as a marvel.
Newark is Newark, everyone knows the problems of New York JFK, but the issue with LaGuardia is it somehow has garnered a positive reputation that doesn’t match the reality.
Which Airports Have Seen The Greatest Underinvestment?
Legacy US Airways hubs at Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Charlotte have known what it takes to please their major tenant. Their focus has had to be on costs, rather than their facilities. Not that Philadelphia is low cost, doing anything there is expensive, but that’s also precisely why they’ve been unable to do anything there to improve. Filthadelphia is terrible, while Charlotte is simply not built for the passenger volume, moving walkways are almost always broken, and walks from the E concourse to connect to mainline American Airlines are miserable.
What About Other Major Airports?
Atlanta has a miserable setup for TSA, and some terrible walks. It isn’t conveniently situated. The region could use another airport, but Delta has enough political clout that they’ve blocked this.
Chicago O’Hare is unpleasant to get to, but I still love the tunnel connecting the B and C concourses. The physical spaces United occupies there (except for E) are so much nicer than the American Airlines concourses. They’re sure spread out, though! But they do a great job connecting B and C with that tunnel. Here’s the original backstory.
Chicago O’Hare B-C Tunnel
Detroit is a good, convenient airport despite being mismanaged. San Francisco is a very good airport, while LAX is a disaster. At least the terminals at LAX have been connected now, and they’re building a train system that’ll simultaneously make the airport less convenient (more steps to getting there) while hopefully relieving congestion – at a cost of more than $1 billion per mile. Still, the project should improve on what’s currently the worst airport rideshare situation in the country.
I have no idea in what world SAN would lead over LGA. Might be easier to get but that’s about it. Maybe with the new terminal that’s opening.
MIA is the worst airport in the US. If you found a bunch of meth/crack/fentanyl addicts and asked them to design an airport, so they could support their horrible habit, you’d end up with MIA.
Sure better transit to LGA would be, you know, nice (take the Q70 bus from the subway, it’s free!). Sure you walk a bit more now (I hear 10,000 steps a day is healthy?). But it’s a very, very pleasant space to spend time, and the ride share pick up area has plenty of space and is efficient. I’ll take the new LGA over the old one 10 out of 10 days of the week. I’ll take the new LGA over EWR 15 out of 10 days of the week. If you want to talk overrated, the new EWR TA should not get a pass – it’s a costly monstrosity that is light years from the air train, it always “feels” overcrowded, it has jet bridges that block the outside views and it has lounges that are new and nice but open to the terminal below and loud and not as big as you’d want them to be. But yeah, Newark is Newark… but we haven’t even talked about terminal B yet! Oof.
Highly disagree on Philly being rock bottom (although I agree it is not at the top) – PreCheck security is extremely quick (I can’t recall the last time I waited more than 5 minutes, and usually I’m at the ID check in under 60 seconds), a lounge situation that has improved immensely between Chase and the new AA FL/AC, all gates connected airside with a short and frequent shuttle between F and A/C, and a large number of local restaurants that is still growing (Sabrina’s is a great place for breakfast).
There is a single-seat direct connection to downtown via train (unlike (EWR/LGA/JFK/BOS/BWI) and I can always grab a taxi within a couple minutes. Parking is relatively affordable both for off-site shuttles and parking with a quick walk into the terminal. Once at the front door of the terminal, you don’t need to hop on a train or walk a crazy long distance to get to your gate (unlike ATL/IAD/DEN).
The airport has been above average for top 30 US airports on-time records in 2021-2024, despite having AA and F9 as the two largest airlines.
What makes Philly so awful in your eyes?
I fully, fully, anticipate that the one thing upon which people in Washington will agree is that BWI is a better airport than DCA.
/s
Agree with all that, except that IAD has grown on me. If you are in NOVA outside the beltway, it is easy to get to, and that is where a lot of the region’s growth is. But there is still way too much walking and riding to get to the gates. C/D is old and crowded, though it has a Polaris lounge. But A/B is very nice, walkable from security, and has good lounges for the non-US airlines. DCA T2 has definitely upped its lounge game. BWI is the airport in the area I least prefer.
I detest O’Hare. I will do everything in my power to avoid a plane change there. I especially hate the fact that most connecting flights, at least for me, involve the tunnel between B & C. I find nothing remotely charming about that tunnel. PHL, on the other hand, is my home airport so perhaps that explains my affinity for it. It is very easy to access and not that hard to get around once you are there. My only complaint, now that AA has upgraded their lounges there, is the TSA check point in Terminal A, the international terminal, is small and lacks a dedicated Pre Check line.
the worst part about the new terminal B at LGA is the carpet. i realize that it’s there to dampen noise, but one would think they could’ve used different construction materials and made all of the floors tile so it wouldn’t be a massive pain to roll carry ons around the terminal
@Arthur – Agreed. Silver line extension has been huge as well.
Also agreed on BWI. (Hahaha yep, @jfhscott) I don’t even consider BWI as part of the area and always get annoyed I have to manually type “IAD, DCA” instead of “WAS” on Google flights.
I don’t know why EWR is always at the bottom ranking. I think the airport is just fine. Yes, it is expensive parking but what is cheap in the tri-state area? Yes, there are always constructions around the airport and it is always traffic, but NJ is so small so it must be crowded. Yes, there are delays (sometimes), but what airport does not have any delays? And yes, it has few toilets although not many like other airports do. In general, it is a lovely airport with few bars, restaurants and shops. Maybe I am an easy going person, but I think EWR should be ranked higher, not at the bottom.
I live near SAN so being in the middle makes sense – even before the new T1 opened this week. I rarely fly out of the low budget terminal. T2 isn’t bad. Only thing I dislike is how long it takes our baggage handlers to offload. It’s a guaranteed 30 minutes. Never less.
The one airport I will fly around to avoid is Denver. If United puts a connecting gate 30 minutes away, with no train, making you walk past empty gates till you get to the end of the dungeon basement and miss your connection because you sat on the tarmac waiting for a plane to get out of the way? Nope. I hate that airport. I will fly LAX before DEN.
DCA is great unless you’re flying from the old terminal which is a small, cramped, shithouse.
I think the comments show that what people look for in airports, and therefore what are the best and worst airports, is highly highly highly subjective. Me personally, most airports I’ve gone through have done the job. Some airports like JFK and ORD are horribly congested leading to long waits on the taxiway, but other than that I really can’t say I’ve had a problem with a lot of airports I’ve been through.
‘This is a load of barnacles.’ I’d trust J.D. Power’s assessment here about as much as I’d trust J.D. (our VP), which is to say… not much (and please, leave that poor couch alone!)
NYC airports are doing far better than ‘just fine’ these days. (@Peter is right, yet again). The new LGA (both Terminal B and C) are incredible since the renovations completed (and Terminal B there will be even better soon with the new Cap One lounge there).
The new EWR Terminal A is also incredible (and in 2026, a new Centurion there); even EWR C has two refurbished UnitedClubs that get the job done (of course, Polaris, too). Even Terminal B, if flying BA or Le Compagnie have decent lounges there.
JFK T4 and T8 have excellent lounges (DeltaOne, Soho, and Chelsea stand out to me), and while the construction is often disruptive, when T1 and T5-6-7 are open, it’ll all be worthwhile, soon enough.
All of these are relatively well-connected with public transit, rideshares, etc. NYC can take on any all other cities, any day, any time. We have actual competition among domestic and international carriers. Boohoo to those that think John Wayne (psh), MSP, or TPA could ever compete.
Absolutely positively without a shadow of a doubt MIA’s D60 is at the bottom of the gate barrel.
Add in the connecting flight experience of walking from the single number gates to 60 ……