Airport Rankings
A decent amount of time ago a friend of mine asked me to rank airports by my personal order of preference. So here it goes.
1. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Nothing beats the sheer amount of connections, plus the new facilities, plus the safety of Dulles Airport in my opinion. While this is probably biased due to the fact that a lot of excellent trips started from here for me, and the thing is I live near the airport. Maybe being closer to the city it serves would have made sense? See the 70s, when there was next to no traffic here. Wi-fi and mall.
2. Newark Liberty Airport (NWK)
Yes, I know this is not a typical choice. But Newark has really cleaned up its act in the last few years, and at least for Continental, has proved to be a good hub with a sturdy network. American and US Airways, I'm not that sure on given the yelling I overheard the other day. Beautiful new terminal interior in Terminal A.
3. Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
First with Wi-fi airport wide. Yes, I know every whitehat, blackhat and security expert under the sun has tried to hack or crack the network. Large spacious air mall. Unfortunately, due to the fight between airport management and USAirways, the network out of it is nowhere near as amazing as it used to be. slightly isolated from town its supposed to serve.
4. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
The gateway of the world to America, one would think they would have tried to make this airport more convenient. AirTrain is great, but one must make a connection with LIRR or the A Line at Jamaica station. This connection system is not very well made, nor optimized for air travelers with suitcases. The architecture of the terminals is amazing, and Boingo provides fairly good wireless throughout.
6. New Chitose Airport (CTS)
Great clean new airport interior. Two runways, little traffic. 2 hours away from the city it was supposed to serve.
7. San Diego Airport (SAN)
Great clean new airport terminal interior. One runway. One. No room for expansion.
8. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Bad interterminal connections. Little to do in USAirways terminal. Haven't experienced the rest.
9. Atlanta Jackson-Hartfield Airport (ATL)
How many different ways can one say delay? Horrible source of delays, which probably are a result of the flag carrier here, Delta. Dirty, old terminal. Needs work.
10. Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA)
How many more security problems can you cram in one airport? A northern approach that requires the river approach to avoid high sensitive areas, bridges next to the takeoff and approach paths. Horrible source of delays. Intercrossed runways.
11. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Who vomited up this airport? Intercrossed runways in plenty of space, with a transit system that require connecting passengers to unload carts before transferring terminals. More delays than you can shake a stick at. Bad location. Expensive. I feel bad for Butch O'Hare, who was the man they named the airport after.
12. Narita International Airport (NRT)
Politically a bad decision. Only one long runway. Small mall. Prohibitively expensive landing fees. Far from the city is supposed to serve, with fundamentally broken system of transit. Only two desks for all domestic travelers for the flagship carrier, Japan Airlines. What happened?
Somewhere in there should be Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH), Portland International Airport, and Salt Lake City Airport. Ithaca is hard to compare to the others as a regional airport. Portland and Salt Lake City I haven't been to since I was in third grade.
1. Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Nothing beats the sheer amount of connections, plus the new facilities, plus the safety of Dulles Airport in my opinion. While this is probably biased due to the fact that a lot of excellent trips started from here for me, and the thing is I live near the airport. Maybe being closer to the city it serves would have made sense? See the 70s, when there was next to no traffic here. Wi-fi and mall.
2. Newark Liberty Airport (NWK)
Yes, I know this is not a typical choice. But Newark has really cleaned up its act in the last few years, and at least for Continental, has proved to be a good hub with a sturdy network. American and US Airways, I'm not that sure on given the yelling I overheard the other day. Beautiful new terminal interior in Terminal A.
3. Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
First with Wi-fi airport wide. Yes, I know every whitehat, blackhat and security expert under the sun has tried to hack or crack the network. Large spacious air mall. Unfortunately, due to the fight between airport management and USAirways, the network out of it is nowhere near as amazing as it used to be. slightly isolated from town its supposed to serve.
4. John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
The gateway of the world to America, one would think they would have tried to make this airport more convenient. AirTrain is great, but one must make a connection with LIRR or the A Line at Jamaica station. This connection system is not very well made, nor optimized for air travelers with suitcases. The architecture of the terminals is amazing, and Boingo provides fairly good wireless throughout.
6. New Chitose Airport (CTS)
Great clean new airport interior. Two runways, little traffic. 2 hours away from the city it was supposed to serve.
7. San Diego Airport (SAN)
Great clean new airport terminal interior. One runway. One. No room for expansion.
8. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
Bad interterminal connections. Little to do in USAirways terminal. Haven't experienced the rest.
9. Atlanta Jackson-Hartfield Airport (ATL)
How many different ways can one say delay? Horrible source of delays, which probably are a result of the flag carrier here, Delta. Dirty, old terminal. Needs work.
10. Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA)
How many more security problems can you cram in one airport? A northern approach that requires the river approach to avoid high sensitive areas, bridges next to the takeoff and approach paths. Horrible source of delays. Intercrossed runways.
11. Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Who vomited up this airport? Intercrossed runways in plenty of space, with a transit system that require connecting passengers to unload carts before transferring terminals. More delays than you can shake a stick at. Bad location. Expensive. I feel bad for Butch O'Hare, who was the man they named the airport after.
12. Narita International Airport (NRT)
Politically a bad decision. Only one long runway. Small mall. Prohibitively expensive landing fees. Far from the city is supposed to serve, with fundamentally broken system of transit. Only two desks for all domestic travelers for the flagship carrier, Japan Airlines. What happened?
Somewhere in there should be Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport (ITH), Portland International Airport, and Salt Lake City Airport. Ithaca is hard to compare to the others as a regional airport. Portland and Salt Lake City I haven't been to since I was in third grade.