The most stressful airport in the US: Chicago’s O’Hare, followed closely by Newark and San Francisco.
While some carriers are showing a profit, few would deny that air travel is constantly becoming more stressful. So much so, in fact, that US News crunched government figures to develop an “Airport Misery Index.â€
It shows which airports have the best and worst combination of delayed flights and crowded planes.
Airlines last year turned in their second-worst on-time performance ever. Only 73.4% of flights arrived on time. Then, there’s the load factor or: 80.5% full.
“In terms of cramped planes and late flights, these are dark days for air travelers,†said the magazine.
Others in the top ten worst include Dallas/Ft. Worth International, Miami International, Las Vegas, Charlotte, NC, New York’s Kennedy, Atlanta’s Hartfield’s Jackson and Seattle Tacoma International.
The magazine computed the Airport Misery Index by starting with a list of the 47 busiest airports. The index was based on delayed flights and average load factors. Then, the two rankings were weighed together.
At the No. 1 airport where there was the least stress, San Jose, Calif., flights departed on schedule 83% of the time and were 77% full, on average.
At the worst airport, Chicago’s O’Hare, only 66% of flights departed on time, and planes were 83% full.
Sources for their numbers included the US Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and The Boyd Group.
Report by David Wilkening
