Vice President Joe Biden thinks New York LaGuardia is a national embarrassment.
It’s home to a new American Express Centurion lounge. Terminal C is much-improved, and the new US Airways club there is no longer the worst airline lounge in North America. The Marine Air Terminal, home to Delta’s Shuttle to DC, is super easy in and out (and the other terminals aren’t bad in this regard). Plus it’s close-in to Manhattan, I’ve frequently left midtown after 3pm and had no problem gliding onto the US Airways Shuttle to DC at 4.
No, the truly worst airports in the US feature long travel distances to their respective city centers, are difficult to navigate especially for connections, and are often dilapidated as well.
Here are my six worst airports in the US.
- Miami There’s very little redeeming about this airport. There are long walks inside of terminals, long walks to the train out to the rental car center, and insanely long walks to immigration. The lines for customs are absurd (but then I suppose they figure everyone coming into the airport is smuggling cocaine?). Security lines are quite random, and I’ve seen TSA PreCheck closed when it should have been open. Check-in lines are long as well, delayed by the volume of baggage being checked.
- Los Angeles. LAX isn’t just awful for connecting between terminals, it is awful for ground transportation. Getting in and out of the airport is tough, shuttles can easily take 15-20 minutes at peak times just transiting the various terminals.
- New York JFK. Some terminals are worse than others of course. Terminal 2, Delta’s C gates, is probably the best remaining example of the ‘old’ JFK. I actually like terminal 7 and its short walks. This is an awful connecting airport. It is an awful airport for transportation, having to take the Airtrain to get to the stop where you can pick up transportation shuttles (always fun with luggage). And it’s a schlepp from downtown.
- Washington Dulles. It is a very bad airport. They don’t use the moon buggies anymore to get between all terminals, but the new airport train drops off United passengers where they’ve wanted to build a new terminal for decades rather than where the passengers will fly out of. They’re building metro and in a few years it should be kind of sort of connecting via public transport to the rest of the city. But a single taxi company has a legal monopoly, meaning it’s tough to get picked up by anyone else and it means twice the cab trips (those cabs drive into the city and return empty, while all other cabs go to the airport and can’t efficiently pick up passengers and take them back to the city). That’s a terrible environmental decision. Plus immigration queues can be nightmares.
- Chicago O’Hare. It’s certainly bad connecting international-to-domestic. Immigration queues can back up hours-long. And Chicago weather can prove challenging at times. I actually like it, though, when weather isn’t cancelling or delaying flights. American’s terminal is reasonably compact, so good for making connections. And you’ve got Tortas Frontera sandwiches.
- Atlanta. The walks between terminals, the distance from the international terminal to the domestic ones (although international flights arriving concourse E are better for connecting). Delta is running probably the best airline operation in the U.S., but their primary hub isn’t keeping pace.
There was a time that Newark would make this list, but I think it’s gotten better. It’s still not my preferred place to fly in and out of New York from. And it suffers from New York airspace congestion as the other two area airports do. But I don’t think it’s in the top 6 of bad.
Denver gets an honorable mention for distance from the city center, but isn’t in this league of bad.
Overall, the worst airports seem to be in the biggest cities. That’s not an accident.
- They’re legacy airports, these cities have been major transportation hubs for decades.
- As major cities they’re super-congested.
- Building projects can be difficult, not just because of availability of surrounding land but also because of local politics.
While JFK’s terminals themselves have been improving (Delta’s 2013 JFK renovation is quite good and the American Airlines terminal is bright and modern albeit too sprawling without much decent food) it would take truly starting over — not in the cards — to make it right there. Meanwhile, Miami has been practically re-done as it is, isn’t really better, and is already too costly to operate at. I don’t see these airports making more than incremental improvement, although LAX’s Bradley terminal itself is better than it used to be. They’ll no doubt dump billions into special projects to try, but the fundamentals there are runways, airspace, terminal connectivity, and ease of transportation — problems that are more intractable than simply refreshing a terminal and improving the lounges and bathrooms.
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Atlanta international to domestic?? Hop on the train and it takes 60 seconds. Atlanta could be one of the bests……and they have one flew south!
I’m slightly confused… You started off by a quote by VP Bidden, saying that LGA is a embarrassment, then you jump into the worse airports.. I agree with the VP it is an embarrassment… Needs some updating.
Then you jumped into, ” Denver gets an honorable mention for distance from the city center, but isn’t in this league of bad.”
When was the last time you were at New Orleans Airport, much further away from city center and needs an update badly…
I’m not going to hold Washington Dulles up as this shining example of what’s right in the world of airports, but I can’t see it being worse than Newark.
The A and B terminals are quite nice at IAD and they are rolling out a bunch of new food and retail options in the waste land that is C and D.
I struggle to find redeeming parts of EWR, given it’s distance from city center, relative congestion in the terminals and the lack of timely connections between terminals airside with the crappy LAX-like bus system.
Your comments about Atlanta are strictly related to its’ size, not quality of facilities, which I think are quite nice. It is the busiest airport in the world after all. You don’t need to walk between terminals as you mentioned. The plane train is fast and frequent. I recently timed my walk from a lounge in F terminal to my gate at the end of A – just about as far apart as you can get – and it was under five minutes.
@tony, it’s 15 miles from New Orleans Airport to the city center (via the interstate, actually shorter if you take Airline Hwy). From DIA into Denver is 25 miles; at the 15 mile mark you’re barely off Pena Blvd. They have made some improvements at MSY recently, I like that the rental car center doesn’t require a bus or train to get to.
@gary, Newark is still my least favorite US airport. I despise the Airtrain to get to the rental cars, and the absurd number of elevator rides required from bag claim. And the spoke design of the concourses at terminal A, with few amenities and nothing connected airside.
I wouldn’t even put Atlanta on the same list as the hell holes that are JFK and Chicago. It’s a longish terminal, but it is clean, not over crowded, and has many choices for food. The Delta lounges are also some of the nicest I’ve been to.
I can’t see how Newark didn’t make this list. It’s my home airport and man, it’s god-awful.
Wow, I’m really surprised to see Atlanta on your list. I have to agree with Ben, seems like your biggest beef is its size, but then again it is the busiest airport in the world. Given how many flights come in and out of that airport, it runs amazingly well. That place is a machine and I’d gladly fly in and out of there (Did for 10+ years). Its only downside is its a Delta Hub and I’m no fan of Delta
ATL became my home airport 18 months ago and I was dreading it. I could not have been more wrong. It has been a pleasant surprise, and to echo the other posters, it is amazingly well-run for it’s size. I always check my bag on the way back home and I hustle to baggage claim when I land. As other posters have stated, even arriving in terminal D, I am at baggage claim in 10 minutes. My bag is usually already on the carousel and, if not, I have never waited more than 5 minutes.
Any worst airports list not containing EWR is a joke. Also, have you ever had the ” pleasure” of connecting in IAH? Try arriving in the B terminal (Ellis Island) and connecting to a full size jet in a different terminal. A truly awful experience.
How could a list of top 6 worst airport not include Newark? That airport is genuinely horrible, probably only 2nd worst after Miami. Ok, maybe 3rd worst after Miami and JFK. LGA needs to be on that list as well. PHL probably also.
As far as IAD, it’s a mixed bag, but certainly does not deserve to be on the 6 worst list . Not even 10 worst – the place has some redeeming qualities (especially if you are not flying United) .
Disagree regarding ATL as well. Yeah, the airport is enormous, but it does serve an enormous number of flights… a little extra walking isn’t exactly a deal-breaker.
Every time I go through ATL, I feel as if some invisible force is hustling me along. Maybe due to the narrow concourses and gate areas and crowds. A colleague who lived in Atlanta for ten years summed it up best: Having a connection in ATL is like having two connections anywhere else.
MIA is a mess and I can’t figure out why, with all the constant and ongoing improvements, it is still such a downer of an airport. And the folks at Immigration are just plain nasty! They shout at pax as if we are all cattle.
@gary, I think you said it well when mentioning that MIA thinks every single person, even wizened, white-haired grannies, are potential smugglers.
Ick.
Hi Gary if your criteria is: “…long travel distances to their respective city centers, are difficult to navigate especially for connections, and are often dilapidated as well.” then I’m not sure ORD should be on your list. There’s public trans straight to downtown, an efficient landside train between terminals and Torta Frontera :). I’ll give you that immigration (and TSA precheck) can be a nightmare but is it fair to ding ORD for the weather? Cheers!
I am too confused how EWR isn’t on this list. Dilapidated, confusing, no great food options, and I cannot remember for the life of me the last time my flights actually departed there on time. ATL is huge, sure, and mostly not “pretty”, but it’s efficient and easy to get around. I’ve made some very tight connections there. The plane train gets you from one end to the other pretty fast (I’ll often go to F for lounges even if connecting to a flight out of A or B). If you’re a fast walker with just a roll-aboard. you could actually walk the appx. 1.5mi from T to F, using the moving sidewalks, in 10 min or so.
I guess I’m a loner in that I like MIA. Second favorite to SFO, there are some similarities. Comments are strictly for AA domestic travel
1) I like the walks (although I’m prone to foot problems and then I don’t like it)
2) The corridors are nice and wide
3) Nice places to eat
4) Even with the distances it’s only about 10 minutes from car rental to desk, don’t have to wait for a shuttle (the train to the terminal from the car rental is VERY frequent)
5) Decor is very pleasant
My big negative:
1) Moving walkways are too narrow – if someone is standing, you can’t walk past
MIA. Not to mention that if you miss picking up your friend there is no way to ‘swing back around’. You literally get dropped off on a highway. Get off at the next exit and make a u turn. Get back on the highway and take the airport exit all over again.
Gary, using your own criteria “long travel distances to their respective city centers, are difficult to navigate especially for connections, and are often dilapidated as well”. I find it impossible that you put Atlanta on this list and not Newark.
in Atlanta, MARTA has a train stop INSIDE the airport, and it’s a 15 minute train ride to downtown. You neglected to mention that. And you have to take the same ridiculous airtrain in Newark that you dock JFK for.
ATL is actually EASY to navigate. No matter where you are, walk to the center of the terminal, take a train to the terminal you need to go to. It is not difficult to navigate at all, and you never have to go in/out of security to get to any gate. Newark is the only airport where I’ve actually missed a connection because my group was literally forced by a continental redcoat to wait for the inter-terminal shuttle bus.
ATL is far from dilapidated, how many of the terminals refurbished in the last 6 years? And a brand new international terminal.
Newark is an armpit and I get sick every time I go through it.
Please consistently apply your logic and criteria to your rankings. You haven’t done so in this.
@Gary — Do you think it’s conceivable, in the future, that any US airports would offer direct international-to-international connections without having to leave airside (i.e., without having to clear immigration)?
Nobody mentioned Orlando? I haven’t been through there in the last couple of years (avoid it like the plague), but the last time they had no priority lanes because “everyone is treated equally in Orlando”. I must admit that they provide entertainment watching all the kids upset with their parents after wearing themselves out going to Disney World. 🙂 The only way out of the airport was a $50.00 minimum taxi ride.
Well, Gary, MIA is my home airport. I suppose it might be analogous to growing up with a ugly sibling. You get used to it. The airport was never pretty from the start (who knew there would ever be urban development around the place, when it was so far west of quiet downtown Miami, only reptiles occupied the area). Yes, compared to so many other modern international airports, MIA is a sad place for departures and especially arrivals, but it’s here and it’s likely not going to improve. Soon, we’ll have an AMEX Centurion Lounge (by the end of the year) and those of us who have few and no other choices for commercial flights (OK, FLL is growing, but only limited international flights in the near future), we can drink, eat and ‘kvetch’ about our airport in comfort.
I agree with most of your list. I would put LAX as worst with JFK being second. Both of those airports are not actually airports per se, but collections of airports that share runways (given that most of the terminals are totally independent of one another). Horrible for international connections. I am with the others that Atlanta does not belong on this list. I can easily make a 45 minute connection at ATL. What other airport in the top-10 biggest list can you say that about? Heathrow? Beijing? Dubai? Talk about walking! Orlando should get honorable mention not because the airport itself is that bad (although its not great) but because it is disproportionately full of families and tourists who have no idea how to navigate an airport.
Essentially, you’ve named every major international airport in the country. Sure, there’s Houston and Newark and San Francisco, as well as a few others, but all of your list are the top tier. It seems a bit of a stretch to call this a coincidence. Why pick on individual airports? Every major U.S. Airport is outstandingly bad in its own special way.
I don’t know how OAK failed to make this list. It’s the most crowded airport I know. Its only saving grace is that runway capacity exceeds demand, so delays do not build up.
@Christian: There is a fair number of major international airports in US which are actually functional – we can’t just paint the whole country with such a broad brush.
SFO is excellent, both for connections, food options, and public transit to the city – easily the best international airport in US. SEA and PDX are very good as well.
IAH, MSP, DFW, and PHX are reasonably good. None of these airports are going to be mistaken for SIN anytime soon, but none of them are such armpits as EWR or MIA . And some of them are actually significantly busier then MIA – yet they still function, and function well .
Completely concur with the consensus that Newark is far worse than Atlanta. Atlanta will never be Detroit, a gleaming palace that rekindled my love of aviation after years of being based around LGA and JFK. It’s not inspired in any way. BUT it’s ruthlessly functional, and has a lot of food and lounge options. It’s really easy to get around, it’s never confusing, the tram is efficient, and the restaurants are varied and numerous. I actually rather like it.
But have you BEEN to Newark, man? Have you gone down to the hole that is Terminal A, seen the 40 people waiting for a sandwich at the one restaurant there while regional delays build and build and every seat gets taken? I actually refuse to use it, no matter what cool new routes it gets me
I’ve flown thru all of these multiple times and it is a little encouraging that our five worst are no where near as bad as Heathrow…….LHR is in a special class of bad……….
@Yev – SFO would be excellent if they had better runway spacing, but those NIMBYs won’t let it happen. Too many delays when there’s fog off the Bay.
@Christian – I don’t call it a coincidence, on the contrary I think I explain in the post that it is not..!
I just flew NRT to IAD on ANA, and they certainly do still use the “moon buggies” – other than that, I don’t find IAD all that bad.
And while I am certainly no Delta apologist, I’ve lived in Atlanta for 10+ years, and your ATL comments simply don’t make any sense – almost like you’ve never traveled through ATL.
All of the ATL concourses are connected via trains that pick up and drop off at almost the center of the terminals (after a quick trip up the escalators). Your walk to any gate in ATL is definitely shorter than most airports. The MARTA train station is located IN the airport and can take you to most points in the city and beyond.
Now I would agree if you had complained about the long lines at Krystal in Concourse A early in the morning when I want everyone is ordering chicken biscuits and I want to order 4 cheeseburger Krystals and a Diet Coke in the mornings… 🙂
@dave well the Centurion lounge will make it better, I’m sure, but not this calendar year..
@AS – hard to figure how they would do that without either the US implementing immigration formalities on departure.
As far as Newark, I think I just remember how bad it used to be back in the day [like, when I used to fly People Express] and I give it credit for improvement.
@Pizzaman – you write, “EWR, given it’s distance from city center,” it’s only ~ 10 minutes from the center of Newark, and 15-20 minutes from the center of Jersey City! [No matter what United claims, Newark is not in New York.]
Gary. “credit for improvement” should not be a criteria for determining a “worst of” list.
you can put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig.
There are so many different ways to measure how bad an airport is. Personally I care most about delays. If I already know the time it will take to get to the city center it’s not an issue if I can count on what time I’m landing. This CNN article from last year has the worst 5 in delays: http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2013/05/02/flight-delays/
Not surprised to see EWR on top but am surprised not to see LGA or DCA in there. I’ve never had a flight be on time in or out of those (even with slot controls).
I think the list of bad airports is longer than the list of good airports. It’s hard to think of one. Santa Fe was pretty easy! How about a “good” airport that is also a busy airport?
Since you mention PeoplExpress, the funniest thing that happened to me on PE (which wasn’t so funny at the time). I flew them the actual first day that Terminal C opened. There were brochures in the seatbacks touting how Terminal C was going to make things better at EWR, and that you would never have to sit on the plane waiting for a gate again. After we landed, one of the pilots came on the PA and announced that there was not a gate for us and that we would have to wait.
IAD uses moon buggies during certain times of the day and to move all A/B connecting international passengers from the international gates to terminal C to clear immigration and customs.
ATL is great
EWR is fine
ORD is meh, but I certainly agree with 2-4 (haven’t been to MIA).
MIA is bad, and so is ORD and IAD.
but you can get from gate to gate without going outside security
Try doing that at JFK or LAX. They are the worst
It is not just a matter of distance from the city center.
ATL is a gem with great connections with the train after security
DEN inside is just fine reminds me of ATL in a way.
I have to defend Miami. Incredibly close to the city, the AA and J terminals are excellent, with great food and amenities, and they’re due to get a Centurion lounge. It’s not perfect, but with LGA-esque distances to the city, it’s incredibly workable.
Nobody said Seattle. Probably because people seem enamored with the Pacific Northwest. The terminal and train layout is asinine, and it’s far from the city. The N and S terminals are incredibly dated and poorly signed.
Houston IAH needs to be on the list. It’s a messy hodgepodge of an airport that is difficult to navigate. Even E to C connections can be lengthy, with the train not always in convenient spots. It’s often faster and shorter to walk than to back track to the train. They also still use legacy nomenclature like North and South to refer to parts of the C terminal when most travelers are connecting through and have to sense of direction with respect to the place. Proves they expect you to use a compass to figure it out. And if you’re going to the city, god forbid, it’s incredibly far, and there is no efficient public transit to speak of.
Newark as had already been mentioned deserves a mention.
Phoenix deserves an honorable mention for its dated and disjointed terminals.
And Philly should get a ding if only for the train that requires cash only payments to the attendant.
Will the next post be “best airports in the US”?
MIA is bad but horrible if you are departing via AA.
We live in a multicultural society and in MIA I am at a disadvantage because I do not speak the official language which is Spanish. The ground staff controlling the lines at MIA/AA terminal propel Spanish speakers ahead and do this to the detriment of English speakers. This action was very blatant on several occasions. These employees control the lines before TSA, this does not refer nor complain about TSA employees who are fair and do not discriminate.
ATL is one of the best if not the best airport in the world. The concourse E to F international immigration walk is the only negative to it.
Missing from this list is what I consider the worst airport in the world and that is MSP. That airport is the worst in the USA! Try making a tight connection there. Forget it! If it is mainline to connection you might as well go straight to customer service or have a heart attack. They like their stupid mall so much they try to force you through it on connections. That airport should suffer a bulldozer and rebuild to look just like ATL.
lets have a list of also:
1) best airports (but exclude the baby-sized tiny ones)
2) most improved
3) most worsened
For once I mostly agree with the man and most of the observations are spot on. Personally I like ORD – it’s easy to access via the El and the terminal have decent concessions. For *A I would much rather connect through ORD than IAH, LAX, or the horrors of JFK or IAD. ATL is not that bad – try hiking from your plane to CBP at DEN or IAH, much less the new T2 @LHR.
However I do think it silly to use the queues immigration (and security) as one of your factors because these are easily avoided with Global Entry ($20/yr) and Pre-Check. The worst airports are ones with characteristics that cannot be avoided, such as the traffic in/near LAX or the IAD moon buggies/terminal C hike.
In my opinion all large airports suck. Some suck slightly less than others. They are a necessary evil in order to enjoy flying. No one mentioned CLT which I would put on the list of worst airports. The nicest part of that airport is the USair terminals and they can get grossly overcrowded at times. Terminal A at CLT is flat out disgusting with worn out carpet and few services. One good thing about CLT is the parking. Garage parking for $10/day is nice, and it was $5/day a year ago. One of the least worst US airports is DTW. Nothing is more simple or efficient than the straight-line layout of Concourse A and the elevated train that overlooks the concourse and gets people from one end to the other in 3 minutes. But if you must connect on Concourse B or C, the light tunnel makes the trip fun.
Gary- I love love love everything that you do and and am an avid fan! This is the one and only time I’ve ever disagreed with you (and it’s only with one out of six of your worst airport classifications).
Please reconsider your thoughts and remove ATL from that list. It is truly one of the best by so many measures. It should never ever be on a list with those other airports.
It’s 16 minutes to the city center (according to google maps), and has long been connected to the city’s subway system. The airport layout is the simplest of any big airport on Earth, and it’s not dilapidated (in fact it’s the opposite).
ATL is a huge operation (the busiest) so you will never have the advantages that a small airport has. But given it’s insane number of take offs and landings and number of passengers, it is truly well run by almost every measure.
There are exemptions and it’s not perfect but this ranking is just not right.
A good man like you can admit when he is a little bit wrong. It makes us love you even more!!!!
This is a top 5 list. I think Gary is throwing in “number 6” to troll us.
I think PHL is worse than all above you mentioned. They still make you take bus to transfer between gates and they constantly let people board when there are 30 planes ahead to take off. Why?!
Hate to pile on, but I have to agree that Atlanta is a wonderful airport by almost any measure. I am so glad that they have finally added free Wi-Fi, which was the only negative, imo. You can trash Delta all day, and I’m there with you (though I have no choice but to fly them, and they are getting better), but I agree that you need to re-evaluate the airport. (I also agree that Newark and Phoenix are pretty awful.)
At this point it is an established fact that ATL has no business on the list.
MIA is horrible by almost any measure, except you can go literally anywhere nonstop.
DEN couldn’t be further to its city center (is the airport in Kansas?)
ORD works for me and I love public transit to the City Center. In fact I highly recommend when using LGA use the Q70/7 train to Grand Central.
Here’s a stab at 6 Best Major Airports,: ATL, MSP, BNA, SAN, SAT & TPA
I was surprised to see ATL on your list as well and agree with many of the other commenters that view ATL as one of the best airports in the US. The plane train between terminals is frequent, quick, and clean. I’d argue that some of the connecting walks at Delta’s T4 or AA’s T8 JFK terminal are longer than connecting “walks” in ATL.
From your other posts, it seems like you haven’t had that much experience departing/arriving/transiting ATL – I’d recommend you book a trip to/through ATL before declaring it as one of the worst.