The Absolute worst U.S. Domestic Airport

[scoey1953]

Poll question: The Absolute worst U.S. Domestic Airport

Which has the worst problems with, weather, delays, crowds, etc.

[SeattleGirl]

1. I picked O'Hare. Gad, that place was awful.

I haven't been to all the ones on the list, but I have been to LA, DFW, and San Francisco. O'Hare was definitely the worst for me.

[Nickster]

23. Oh no.....you've obviously never been to Midway Airport! ACK!

Midway is the absolute worst, poorly designed, poorly located airport on the face of the planet. I would rather pay a higher fare then ever willingly fly in or out of Midway. Have I mentioned how much I hate Midway?

[BlueIris]

34. O'Hare is the Airport of the Damned.

I was stranded there overnight once. It felt like a Twilight Zone episode.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

2. Atlanta.

I've NEVER been through there and not been delayed. Fucking Georgian weather....

:grr:

[Robb]

3. I voted for LAX

...Of course, I lived in the Bay Area for several years, and am therefore conditioned to hate EVERYTHING about Los Angeles. :D

Plus, the airport sucks. :P

[smoogatz]

4. LAX, hands down.

Worst layout in the US, unspeakably long waits for security, slowest baggage handlers this side of Zaire, crappy gate areas, the main terminal so old and poorly maintained it feels more like the bus station in Emporia, Kansas than a major international airport. In short, a complete shithole.

[fishwax]

5. I voted for Newark International Airport

I flew in there last month and then caught a connecting flight, which was about an hour and twenty minutes late getting to the gate. There were dark skies, but only a light drizzle. Once that flight had unloaded and our flight was finally boarded, the pilot came on before backing away from the gate. He said:

"If you have any medical conditions that will make it uncomfortable or impossible for you to sit on the airplane while we sit on the runway for an hour and a half, now is the time to get off the plane. We're in the back of the line and the tower is awfully slow getting airplanes up in the sky. That's just the way things work at the Newark Airport whenever there is a cloud in the sky."

He sounded rather exasperated saying it, and the person traveling next to me agreed with his assessment of weather delays there. We saw almost the entire in-flight movie as we waited in line to get on the runway, before we were finally able to takeoff almost two hours later.

[pitohui]

6. how do you figure DTW in that poll?

that's a terrific airport

[progmom]

38. it is now, certainly

it wasn't before they built the new terminal, but now it's really great.

[tjwash]

7. LAX hands down.

And I fly a hundred thousand plus miles a year, and have been in 'em all.

[Redstone]

8. I stopped flying on business 16 years ago. Not about to start again.

Too much fucking misery for me. EVERY airport is bad nowadays.

Redstone

[Jara sang]

9. Dang, little Norfolk Int. on there.

I grew up in VB. I vote for other: Logan

[Nailzberg]

10. LAX. Horrible.

What a shithole. And just about the worst traffic I've ever seen.

[Hissyspit]

11. Detroit - Northwest's main hub, by far the worst. LA second.

I was held up on the previous Northwest flight and got to my next gate just as the plan pulled away from the terminal door. I threw my luggage down and yelled "goddammit!" and the idiot girl at the check-in counter immediately called security. This was BEFORE 9/11. I was trying to get back from NYC to my mother who had gone to the emergency room with heart problems. I was went to the ticket counter and raised holy hell at the top of my lungs. There were no more flights - they wouldn't find me anything. I was screaming in front of all these people. Half of them were agreeing with me. The cops just said to take the free hotel room and get on the next flight - they were actually sympathetic.
I should have sued them. And in all this I was standing in the ugliest, dirtiest U.S. terminal I had ever seen.

NEVER FLY NORTHWEST.

[pitohui]

14. DTW has a new terminal now, best in america if you ask me

DTW is absolutely beautiful, altho i'm pretty sure MSP is actually the main northwest airlines hub, i like DTW

never scream at your gate agent, that will get you in trouble at any airport

just snap a picture on your cell phone and post her picture online later, as someone actually did of an inappropriately dressed gate agent (in hot pants) at DTW!

but honestly the shiny new terminal is fantastic

[Hissyspit]

19. This was back in the mid-90s and I wasn't worried about getting in trouble

I had already been screwed. What was interesting was that I didn't get in "trouble." Everyone was pretty sympathetic EXCEPT the airline, who were taking my money.

Good to hear there is a new terminal, though.

[SharonRB]

29. You haven't been here for a while

NW has a beautiful new terminal -- about 4-5 years old. One of the nicest in the country now. And they're just starting construction on another new terminal for the other airlines.

[Blue-Jay]

12. I won't even go near O'Hare.

Midway's pretty easy.

[RevCheesehead]

13. EVERY time I go thru Atlanta, I get a cancellation/delay.

And it was always due to maintenance issues. I HATE that airport!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. DFW is actually pretty logically laid out

and easy to get around.

Chicago, on the other hand, is BRUTAL. I love to fly over it, I just hate landing there and having to use the terminals.

[Ravenseye]

41. Transfering in DFW can be insane

Especially if you have to go from A1 to B456 and it takes 45 minutes to run it because the tram is out of service for some ungodly reason.

[BlueCollar]

16. I vote for Miami

what a cesspool. Second only to London Heathrow for mind-boggling inefficiency

[Scooter24]

21. I agree..

Miami is crazy, especially on weekends with all those cruise passengers coming and going.

[BlueCollar]

26. a third world airport in the USA

Trying to make an international connection to a domestic flight at MIA...not for the faint-hearted...

[LostinVA]

44. Yup -- and nowhere decent to eat... Charlotte is the best for that!

[GOPisEvil]

17. Ever been to Oakland? Not ineffcient; just stuck in the 1970s.

Think '70s era Burger King...

[rockymountaindem]

18. Minneapolis

What's with the giant U and no way to get across from one side to the other without going through the whole airport?

In contrast, I think Denver internation is great. All the flights on the same airline are in the same terminals, so unless you're changing airlines you won't need to go to another terminal for a connection. Everything is simple.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Maybe you haven't been to MSP lately -- there is a skyway connection.

Also a tram. It's very easy to get around now.

[yvr girl]

20. I always have problems in Atlanta

I'd never lost my luggage till I flew through Atlanta. So far, they've lost in 75% of the time. I also had a hellish two-day ordeal to get home once.

[hyphenate]

22. It was a tossup

between O'Hare and LAX. I picked O'Hare because it's where I've been stuck, more than once, between flights, and where our plane sat on the ground for 6 hours, and they wouldn't let us out of the plane during that time because we were supposed to take off "any minute now" and we didn't. It wasn't terrorism--it was snow.

BTW--I didn't see Logan on your list, but for those of us in New England, it demands a spot near the top as well.

[Arugula Latte]

24. My friends -- come to Portland (PDX)

We have an absolutely wonderful airport.

[grasswire]

39. But be sure you're just passing through!

It rains more than you'd like in Portland.

[cmf]

25. After being stuck in LAX for about 10 hours last month

I feel that I know this airport well, and I can safely say that it really, really, sucks.

[elehhhhna]

27. MIAMI by a landslide. MIAMI SUCKS I hate it.

[Zorro]

30. I actually don't mind LAX

I think it's pretty convenient to get to your terminal, and it's the only airport I've been through where you aren't forced to take off your shoes when going through security.

I really don't care for Dulles (those peoplemovers add a lot of time in getting to your gate), DFW (walk for miles to get to your gate when making connnections), O'Hare (crowded, flight delays), and Miami (ditto).

My favorite large domestic airport is Tampa. They really did things right when they designed that place.

[jus_the_facts]

31. I wouldn't know...I've never flown the un/friendly skies....

:nopity:

[scoey1953]

32. Comments on ...Other Domestic Airports?

No one has mentioned Washington Dulles International Airport or McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. How about LaGuardia Airport in NYC? What about Salt Lake City International Airport or
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport ?? Atlantic City International Airport ? Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport ? Philadelphia International Airport? Any of these or others meet with
a bad experience?

[KFC]

33. You are smoking dope if you did not vote for JFK

You may be smoking dope anyway. Dope smoker.

[NJ Democrats]

35. O' Hare

That place was a mess when I flew in last summer.
Norfolk is that good either- Nice airport, but my dad's planes home always are delayed or canceled (maybe it's just Continential though.)

[sarge43]

36. O'Hare - Hell's Airport n/t

[scoey1953]

37. Here is how you really know your in trouble....

[Burma Jones]

40. LaGuardia, in my experience....

[Ravenseye]

42. O'Hare, LAX, JFK all front runners.....but I pick Boston Logan

They've made improvements to getting there, but for the longest time just to drive there could take an hour from within a couple of miles. Then driving around the airport was nuts and dangerous with all the other cars flying about like ping pong balls because nobody knows where to go,e xecpt the cabs who then weawve through everyone.

Then on top of that drab gates, long lines, and then the landing into the water usually is bumpier than the heat rising off the arizona desert.

LAX, O'Hare, JFK, Logan...all up there in my mind for worst domestic.

[LostinVA]

43. Denver, hands down -- with O'Hare second

I can't even describe the evilness of Denver... but SeaTac has the rudest, most psycho TSA personnel (with Philly second).

[Yollam]

45. MIA

Miami International Airport.


He only thing good I can say about it is that there are huge green iguanas that scurry across the roads there. Bas service, bad layout, ugly, dark, disorganized, confusing. A perfect match to the mess that is the city of Miami.