The 25 Worst Airports in America, From Newark to Dallas (Photos)
Plan ahead: The Daily Beast crunches the numbers on the hubs to avoid—and the ones without the lines.
It’s that time of year again: Thanksgiving, a chance to catch up with friends and family, gorge on turkey, and endure an exhausting travel schedule. That also means it’s time for The Daily Beast’s annual rundown of the worst airports in America. You might not be able to avoid these terminals, but at least you can factor in extra travel time and have a few stress balls handy.
To find the 25 Worst Airports in America, we started by looking at the busiest airports, based on Airports Council International data, for an initial pool of nearly 50 sites. We then took into account six factors: on-time performance for arrivals and departures for 2012, and on-time performance for arrivals and departures during the most recent busy travel holidays (Presidents’ Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, winter holidays), with data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics—accounting for 80 percent of the final ranking. The remaining 20 percent was split between the most recent airport comfort and amenities study by JD Power and Associates—with scores re-ranked within the pool of nearly 50 airports—and the median maximum security wait time during peak periods, with data from Flight Explorer.
San Antonio
On-time departures, 2012: 88 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 85 percent
On-time holiday departures: 84 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 87 percent
Max. security wait time: 19 minutes
Amenities rank: 28th
Atlanta
On-time departures, 2012: 84 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 85 percent
On-time holiday departures: 88 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 86 percent
Max. security wait time: 22 minutes
Amenities rank: 34th
Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
Sacramento, Calif.
On-time departures, 2012: 84 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 85 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 86 percent
Max. security wait time: 20 minutes
Amenities rank: 8th
Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo
St. Louis
On-time departures, 2012: 86 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 87 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 86 percent
Max. security wait time: 28 minutes
Amenities rank: 24th
Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images
Cleveland
On-time departures, 2012: 89 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 86 percent
On-time holiday departures: 82 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 85 percent
Max. security wait time: 20 minutes
Amenities rank: 30th
Mark Duncan / AP Photo
San Diego
On-time departures, 2012: 85 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 84 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 87 percent
Max. security wait time: 20 minutes
Amenities rank: 27th
Sandy Huffaker / Getty Images
Chicago
On-time departures, 2012: 79 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 86 percent
On-time holiday departures: 86 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 86 percent
Max. security wait time: 11 minutes
Amenities rank: 23rd
Tim Boyle/Tim Boyle / Getty Images
Baltimore/Washington, D.C.
On-time departures, 2012: 81 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 85 percent
On-time holiday departures: 86 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 84 percent
Max. security wait time: 14 minutes
Amenities rank: 11th
Saul Loeb / Getty Images
Washington, D.C.
On-time departures, 2012: 86 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 85 percent
Max. security wait time: 17 minutes
Amenities rank: 33rd
Win McNamee / Getty Images
Fort Lauderdale
On-time departures, 2012: 84 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 86 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 85 percent
Max. security wait time: 21 minutes
Amenities rank: 28th
Sun Sentinel / Getty Images
Las Vegas
On-time departures, 2012: 82 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 86 percent
On-time holiday departures: 86 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 86 percent
Max. security wait time: 33 minutes
Amenities rank: 25th
Gabriel Bouys / Getty Images
Houston
On-time departures, 2012: 79 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 87 percent
On-time holiday departures: 84 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 82 percent
Max. security wait time: 10 minutes
Amenities rank: 18th
Boston
On-time departures, 2012: 85 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 83 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 85 percent
Max. security wait time: 19 minutes
Amenities rank: 39th
Michael Dwyer / AP Photo
New York
On-time departures, 2012: 83 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 84 percent
Max. security wait time: 25 minutes
Amenities rank: 41st
Mehdi Taamallah / Getty Images
Denver
On-time departures, 2012: 80 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 84 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 83 percent
Max. security wait time: 33 minutes
Amenities rank: 14th
John Moore / Getty Images
Philadelphia
On-time departures, 2012: 85 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 84 percent
Max. security wait time: 30 minutes
Amenities rank: 42nd
Mike Mergen / Getty Images
Dallas/Fort Worth
On-time departures, 2012: 80 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 83 percent
On-time holiday departures: 86 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 81 percent
Max security wait time: 25 minutes
Amenities rank: 20th
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Los Angeles
On-time departures, 2012: 83 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 85 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 83 percent
Max. security wait time: 25 minutes
Amenities rank: 44th
Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
Miami
On-time departures, 2012: 79 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 82 percent
On-time holiday departures: 87 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 81 percent
Max. security wait time: 31 minutes
Amenities rank: 43rd
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
New York
On-time departures, 2012: 84 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 78 percent
On-time holiday departures: 81 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 83 percent
Max. security wait time: 22 minutes
Amenities rank: 46th
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Washington, D.C.
On-time departures, 2012: 79 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 80 percent
On-time holiday departures: 82 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 81 percent
Max. security wait time: 22 minutes
Amenities rank: 37th
Paul J. Richards / Getty Images
Chicago
On-time departures, 2012: 78 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 81 percent
On-time holiday departures: 84 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 80 percent
Max. security wait time: 31 minutes
Amenities rank: 40th
Jewel Samad / Getty Images
Houston
On-time departures, 2012: 77 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 80 percent
On-time holiday departures: 82 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 77 percent
Max. security wait time: 16 minutes
Amenities rank: 22nd
Stan Honda / Getty Images
San Francisco
On-time departures, 2012: 75 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 72 percent
On-time holiday departures: 69 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 73 percent
Max. security wait time: 9 minutes
Amenities rank: 36th
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
Newark, N.J.
On-time departures, 2012: 73 percent
On-time arrivals, 2012: 70 percent
On-time holiday departures: 73 percent
On-time holiday arrivals: 73 percent
Max. security wait time: 25 minutes
Amenities rank: 45th
Peter Foley / Bloomberg via Getty Images
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