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America's Most Time-Draining Airports

forbes.com — In Depth: America's Top 20 Time-Draining Airports

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  • Lucas123, on 06/11/2008, -0/+14Look. I love Boston. I love New England. But I fly all over the country, and Logan Airport is the worst. It has a central parking facility in the middle of a horseshoe of four isolated terminals. Walking from the parking garage, depending on the airline, can take 10 minutes, during construction, even longer. It's confusing as all getup. It costs $36 for the first day to park and $24 for each additional day. The terminals themselves can be very confusing because of very poor signage. Many of the airlines have no food or beverage vendors once you go through security, and security is pathetic. They stopped my 83-year-old father in a wheel chair last time he flew home to New York to perform an additional bag search once he was through security. They're hypersensetive to not profiling passengers to the detriment of everyone else. Last time I was there, they confiscated my roll-on under arm deoderant because the gel was clear, but if it was white - no worries.

    The only positive thing about the airport I can think of is the $16 billion Massachusetts spent in order to build a highway straight to it. It was originally supposed to cost $3 billion, but hey, cost overruns.
    • treas, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1Chicago O'hare was definitely the right choice for this.


      ***** OHARE.
  • SaladCactusKing, on 06/12/2008, -1/+4That can't be right. I live in L.A., and LAX is a goddamn nightmare. But Logan in Boston has always been pretty good.
    • kevinwiz, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1i've heard great things about long beach airport. i only use john wayne and lax though.
      • chispito, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Ontario is where it's at, trust me.
      • Chompy, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2LAX is an ugly, nasty airport, but I've rarely been delayed there. Atlanta and Chicago, however.. I will go off my preferred airline to avoid a stop at one of those two hubs.
    • diggrnumber1, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1the baggage transport is incredibly slow there. although they do have plenty of security personnel most of the time, and you often can whisk through security pretty fast (at least in the southwest terminal).
    • warrenterr, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2Getting to LAX is a bitch because of the traffic. Once you're there it could get confusing but nothing out of the ordinary.
    • pilot3033, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2Yeah, LAX is in need to some updates, but is not nearly as bad as places like Chicago, NYC, Boston or Atlanta. The weather helps (no worries about being snowed in/de-icing procedures), and because the airspace is less congested, most delays out of LAX are because of the destination airport, or weather en route, not because the airport sucks. Even in rush hour, taxi time hovers in the 20-30min ranger, while at JFK it can be well over an hour and a half, if you're lucky.
    • splorpdotorg, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1That's why I prefer Burbank (although, depending on the time of year, you can get fog-delayed).
  • music2play1, on 06/12/2008, -1/+4I'm confused, is a rank 100 the worst to go through or is rank 1 the worst...?
    • poiuytrewq44, on 06/12/2008, -2/+1I didn't even know there WERE that many airports here.
      • braeden0613, on 06/12/2008, -1/+3what a stupid comment....you didnt think there were 100 airports in a nation of 300 million people?
  • RichPowers, on 06/12/2008, -1/+27Forbes: America's most time-draining website. Thanks for posting the airports on a 20-page slideshow, jackasses. Number one is Chicago's O'Hare Int'l Airport.

    PS: Forbes is The Economist or Financial Times for idiots.
    • kevinwiz, on 06/12/2008, -1/+2there is a complete list link in the article
    • diggrnumber1, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1i check market news every day, and i usually hesitate even click on forbes articles. there's always a full screen ad that you have to click through, and then the articles don't even usually say anything. the title better be pretty compelling to get me to actually click on one.
    • chicagodj, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1WOO HOO

      We're number 1... We're number 1

      WOO... oh wait... nevermind.
    • MonumentMan, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2i was just about to say this

      forbes has THE WORST way of displaying their lists. 20 clicks? FFS.
  • Philophobic, on 06/12/2008, -1/+12It's nice how #2, #3 and #4 are all in the NYC area.

    NYC! We ***** up your day even before you get here,
  • xcheats, on 06/12/2008, -1/+6WTF. Why do you need a picture slideshow for a top 20?
  • Azlen, on 06/12/2008, -0/+19I totally hate Forbes' slideshow, it is so annoying.
  • jetblackz4, on 06/12/2008, -0/+4O'hare is awful if you are heading to Chicago you are much better off at Midway.
    • dmourati, on 06/12/2008, -1/+2Yea, that is of course unless you know that Midway is one of only 13 airports in the US that has runways shorter than FAA standards.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines_Fl ...
      • vyralinfection, on 06/12/2008, -1/+2Plus midway is what could be best described as 'the fun part of town' and i dont mean that in a good way
        • dext3r, on 06/12/2008, -2/+2wow, you are so full of *****. midway is fine. where are you from, naperville?
        • jimmies, on 06/12/2008, -1/+3He's right. Cicero is a piece of ***** town.
        • dext3r, on 06/14/2008, -0/+1dude, Midway isn't even IN Cicero. are all of you retarded?
  • philman467, on 06/12/2008, -0/+7Can someone paste a summary list? Going through that damn slide show is painful.
  • ffejrey, on 06/12/2008, -0/+11Top 100 in table format.

    http://www.forbes.com/2008/06/02/aviation-travel-d ...
  • KibblesnBitts, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2As a resident of New Jersey there are a lot of choices in airports....Newark, JFK, La Guardia, or Philadelphia. They all suck. Newark is the closest and most obvious choice, but the airport is gross in itself, there are almost always delays. JFK is a complete mess and for lack of a better word, a *****. La Guardia, not going to lie I've never flown out of or into, but that's because all the flights leaving from there are too few and too expensive, enough said. Philadelphia, as shown on the list isn't worse than the aforementioned 3, which is completely true, but the airline's hub is US Airways, most commonly ranked as the worst major airline, and trust me, that in itself is true.

    To conclude: Pick your Poison
  • Dan11023, on 06/12/2008, -0/+4America's Top 20 Time-Draining Airports AKA America's big city airports
  • zaldoe, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5820. Washington, D.C.: Washington National
    19. Miami, Fla.: Miami International
    18. Las Vegas, Nev.: McCarran International
    17. Phoenix, Ariz.: Sky Harbor International
    16. Washington, D.C.: Dulles International
    15. Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles International
    14. Charlotte, N.C.: Charlotte Douglas International
    13. Seattle, Wash.: Seattle/Tacoma International
    12. Detroit, Mich.: Detroit Metro Wayne County
    11. Denver, Colo.: Denver International
    10. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.: Minneapolis St. Paul International
    9. Atlanta, Ga.: Hartsfield-Jackson
    8. Philadelphia, Pa.: Philadelphia International
    7. Boston, Mass.: Logan International
    6. San Francisco, Calif.: San Francisco International
    5. Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas: Dallas/Ft. Worth International
    4. New York, N.Y.: La Guardia
    3. New York, N.Y.: Kennedy International
    2. Newark, N.J.: Newark Liberty International
    1. Chicago, Ill.: O'Hare

    PS: ***** you, Forbes!
    • brjndr, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I've found SF to have gotten a lot better. They changed around some of the security screening areas, and it goes a lot faster now. Philadelphia is terrible about getting checked baggage back to you. I go have a couple beers before I go to the carousel, and I still beat my bag there.
  • asoon, on 06/12/2008, -1/+2looks like time to move to Hawaii, FTA : "If you'd like to witness the miracle of smooth travel, fly to Hawaii. Three of its local airports ranked as the least time-draining, with minimal delays in each category and, in two cases, on-time departure and arrival rates of 90% or greater.

    And unlike most places, getting stranded in Hawaii is more likely a blessing than a curse. "
  • Dralite, on 06/12/2008, -0/+6It seems like this list consist of busy airports that are... busy.. and with that comes time consumption
  • Linake, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5Digg's Most Time-Draining Slideshow.
  • zaldoe, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I did ... http://digg.com/travel_places/America_s_Most_Time_ ...
  • Brododium, on 06/12/2008, -0/+5Dupe, when did Digg become Exhume?
    http://digg.com/travel_places/The_20_Most_Time_Dra ...
  • aflaks, on 06/12/2008, -0/+3This isnt anything new, big airports with hundreds of incoming and outgoing flights a day will be time consuming.
  • SwedishNinja, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1True for La Guardia and O'Hare. Flew out of LGA last Saturday to ORD but was delayed for over two hours, half of which included sitting on the tarmac. Ended up missing my connecting flight to MSP and I had to get a hotel in Chicago. ***** sucked.
  • plaboon, on 06/12/2008, -3/+1Atlanta should be at the top of the list. They are the most racist airport in the US - EVERYTIME I have a delay there and ask someone a question they either ignore me or answer in one or two words without ever making eye contact...

    If it was possible for a white person to sue a major chain for racism I would own airline!
  • cheekdog, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1absolutely HATE o'hare...i've never had a good experience at dallas/ft. worth, either.
  • tekpunk, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1what the hell?!!! why does old sh*t keep going to the front page???
  • Ex3poo, on 06/12/2008, -3/+1#16 and #20 Are both the same airport :-/ Something They need to change, becuase the airports name changes on which runway its using :-/
    • Ex3poo, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2nvm, i just never knew the diffrence between to 2 airports, i dont know the location of reagan
    • witcompe, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2Nope... #16 is KIAD and #20 is KDCA. 2 different airports serving the same city. IAD is on the outskirts of Wash DC while DCA is right in town next to the Pentagon.
      • Ex3poo, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1yea thanks for the the confirmation i was confused for a second.
    • tutva, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0they're not the same airport at all.
  • ClassicResort, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Yeah. O'Hare ***** blows.
    • Ravatar, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Fully agree!!

      Last time I flew through O'Hare towards LaGuardia they changed my gate four or five times in an hour. That's a massive pain in the ass when each gate change involves going to a completely different concourse. Sometimes they don't even announce the change! So you get to run over and read from the screen every 5 minutes.

      In fact I've never had a problem at LaGuardia, it's always O'Hare with the long ass delays and gate switcharoos.
  • dorkyromantic, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Stressing what others have said before: As a central/northern NJ resident, the choice is always: Newark, JFK, or La Guardia? And they all. Suck.

    I take a bus to Boston for school now. At least the Port Authority isn't that bad. Oh, wait. :(
  • pixelguru, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I'm kind of surprised that anyone actually returned from Philly to post the data. As far as I knew, the airport was just a giant black hole that sucked in any planes or travelers who strayed too close.
  • warrenterr, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1The best one I've been to is Miami Int'l, and it makes sense it's not on the list even though it's one of the biggest ones, if not the biggest I've been to. It's really intuitive to navigate through it things are spread out, so you don't have to walk too much to get coffee. Knowing spanish is definitely a plus on this one.
  • hmunkey, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1Oh ***** Forbes.
  • Alex2, on 06/12/2008, -0/+2I've been to 10 of the top 20. I agree with this list.
  • Takumi831, on 06/12/2008, -1/+1I think we should get it out of the way and just say ***** all airports that exist, have existed, or will exist ever.
    • nephari, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Good luck driving to other continents.
  • skyshock1, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Buried for linking to Forbes.
  • nephari, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1The Sea-Tac Airport really isn't that bad... in fact, I spend the least amount of time there compared to the other airports I have to go to. Also, their TSA people seem to be nicer and make jokes with me instead of moving my jewelry around in the security line and then losing it and REFUSING TO LOOK FOR IT even though there's pretty much nowhere it could have gone but right in front of them (*cough*PHL*cough*).

    I'm not disgruntled...
  • scoottie, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1no airport is as bad as heathrow in London England
  • Skooma714, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I know someone who is going to Europe next month and know another who did the same last year, both probably out of LAX.

    I'm going go to throw up now.
  • teledano, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0I'm surprised that Denver made the list - it's logically laid out, very easy to navigate, and now with a new security gate at the skybridge to Terminal A, there is an alternative to the main security line in the atrium -just pop through it and down the stairs to the train- it's a real time saver.

    While the slideshow sucks, look at the chart - you can sort through the data and come to your own conclusions. Denver gets hit for weather (duh), security (seriously, remember the above info), and carrier issues (United blows). Just goes to show the airline is almost as important as the airport.
  • papastout, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1LAX is second only to JFK - but my experience there in LA last month may have bumped it up the list. I missed a flight because 2 hours wasn't enought time to get through check-in and security - so rather than go someplace and wait for the next flight, I chose to hangout in the LAX international terminal, lots of shops, restaurants and a bar - all overpriced, of course... eight hours and several pints later I was through the whole process in less than 30 minutes.

    I think any airport may hav some nightmare periods where time is sucked into a vacuum, so this article might be taken with a partial grain of salt so long as you bear in mind that it depends on what time of day you travel.
  • pagno, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1"passengers waylaid overnight can look for the airport's standard issue, complimentary amenity kit stocked with a toothbrush, soap and comb."

    Wow, thats lame. When I got delayed in Charolette, they gave me a hotel voucher, and got me there before the bar closed. Not too bad. Besides, I was heading to Ft. Bragg after leave, so I wasnt in too big a hurry :)
  • siktath, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1I love gov't regulation! I think it's working well.
  • PaulyBunyan, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0digg down, duplicate story
  • Superman7507, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1Aw, DFW is only #5
    I'm sure with little work at all we can get up to #1!
  • tutva, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0That chick on the Atlanta page was pretty hot. Awesome photo angle.... POV shot.
  • nc60659, on 06/12/2008, -0/+1All forbes.com submissions will be buried. No exceptions.

    ***** FORBES!
  • MalsAU, on 06/16/2008, -0/+0I'm not horribly surprised by anything on this list considering that they are all major hubs: more traffic=more delays. It sucks, but it's true.

    God, how I hate flying these days. Give me back my peanuts (pretzels are an acceptable alternative)!
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