You can fly to Philly. Or from Philly. But never through Philly. Unless you like flight delays. There’s a reason Philly’s airport made the list as the worst large airport in North America. See who made the list for the mega airports and medium-sized airports along with all the 2nd and 3rd place finishers.
The worst airports in North America
JD Power just published the results of an extensive survey of more than 26,000 travelers. Their target? Airports. In an extensive review of airports across North America, JD Power unveiled the airports people love and the ones they hate.
Here are the worst airports in North America…in 2022 anyway, as conveniently summarized by Afar and aggregated here by us.
Worst Mega Airports
While travelers ranked the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP) as the top-rated mega airport they had plenty of airports to dislike. In the mega airport category, the worst mega airports in North America are as follows, in descending order, with Newark’s Liberty International Airport taking the bottom spot.
- Los Angeles International Airport
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport
- Newark Liberty International Airport [the worst!]
Worst Large Airports
On the large airport front, Tampa’s International Airport topped the list of the most liked airports followed closely by Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, but in the large airport category, the list of bottom feeders was healthy. Rounding out the worst of the worst include the four airports listed below. And in a surprise to literally no one, the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) ranked dead last.
- La Guardia Airport
- Kansas City International Airport
- Honolulu International Airport
- Philadelphia International Airport [the worst!]
Worst Medium Airports
There are a lot of medium-sized airports across North America but it was Indianapolis that took the coveted top spot of most liked medium-sized airports, followed by Pittsburgh and Jacksonville’s airport.
At the bottom of the heap was Hollywood’s Burbank Airport:
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
- Kahului Airport in Maui
- Hollywood Burbank Airport
Disagree with any of these? Think JD Power missed any? We think Ontario Airport should have scored higher on the medium airports’ list (they finished 8th on most liked medium-sized airports).
See more details about the JD Power survey here.
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4 comments
What’s wrong with CLE?
I disagree with these listings. I am a different traveler at different times. Work related connecting flight. Leisurely paced connecting flight. O&D travel by public transit. O&D travel by self driven car. O&D traffic by relative driving. They have different criteria.
On a work related connecting flight, I want efficient connections and many alternative flights. On a leisurely paced connecting flight, I like beautiful scenery and architecture, air service by many airlines for both plane spotting and travel options. Good public transport, convenient and inexpensive parking, or good waiting areas and airport locations not too far from the city are criteria for different trips.
That said, PHL is not a great airport. SFO is better. Burbank is not low rated as mentioned in the article but is very good for O&D traffic where one is picked up by relatives. The current Kansas City airport is good for those with walkers because the walking distances are short. The new MCI terminal may not be like that.
Hawaii is in North America?
Also, last I checked Canada is in North America and Toronto’s Airport has been named one of the worst in the world
Seattle airport is sorry and worst they need to fix and make it easy for travelers to get in and out and around the airport