Looks like UA is not alone in causing customer dis-satisfaction, excerpt below:
Avoid These Airports at All Costs
An airline is a peculiar business, because the fortunes of the company often run in inverse proportion to the well-being of the customers. Travelers love to pay fire-sale prices to fly on big planes with lots of empty seats.....
I'm not sure I agree with their two-factor assessment. For me, I think they should have weighted cancellations over delays. I'll be much more miserable having to spend the night in the airport than arriving or leaving late (ORD and PHL, I'm looking at you). I also would include some measure of customer service like % of passengers rebooked same day or complaints received. Maybe the number of hours of delay for the flights they included in their calculations. Load factor doesn't really make a difference to me. The seat is the same size whether the plane is full or not.
I think the airport itself has a lot to do with my misery. If stuck in DTW, at least there are numerous place to sit, eat, watch the big CNN screen. STL might be least miserable by the study, but that being my home airport I would beg to differ. There are hardly any concessions, especially in concourse A, limited seating and uncomfortable chairs in gate areas, plus the decor could use an update. For incoming passangers, the baggage claim takes forever and the rental cars are located off site.
Just my opinion, but I don't think the authors travel enough if these are their only criteria.
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Interesting list...
I agree that ORD, JFK, and EWR really suck, especially when the aircon at EWR bearly works (which is all the time in the Summer months), or ORD is full of people and there isn't any room to sit down (which is also all the time).
As for the good airports, Houston Hobby used to be one of the absolute worst, but their stock has gone up considerably since they opened their new terminal...great concessions, and lots of restrooms and bars! Dallas Love Field is a really, really crappy terminal (The CO/AA portion is the old Braniff terminal, and it hasn't gotten much more than 1 coat of paint and sone "new" carpet since the Flying Colors were there. The Southwest terminal has low ceilings, funky carpet, and is really, really crowded. But, being WN, you are never there for long....but some awesome crowds moving through there!), but it is probably one of the most convenient airports to its host city in America. A 5-minute walk to baggage from anywhere, and you are in downtown in less than 10 minutes. Not so good for Western suburbs or for Fort Worth.
I would add the following, not based on #'s, but on my own personal experiences (some int'l added)...to be added, not to replace the list:
MOST MISERABLE:
1) CDG - nuff said
2) LHR - should be #1, but CDG gets the honor due to French hospitality, and cigarette smoke!
3) PHX - as funky as it gets these days
4) LAS - other than the remote terminal that SkyTeam uses, it's a complete dump...and hot!
5) MEM - looks like my high school
5a) MIA - why the low ceilings?
Honorable Mention: ATL, DFW, CIN, PHL, IAD, SLC, LGW
LEAST MISERABLE:
1) AUS - great concessions, good terminal, and live music at certain times
2) LGA - yea, yea, funky terminal, but you can't beat that quick taxi ride to midtown!
3) MDW - since the renovation, great place, although mainlines don't have good service there
4) SEA - cool terminal and cool approach as you land
4a) SFO - what's up with the Bullitt-esque terminal?, but has the same attributes as SEA
5) WAS - see 4 and 4a
Honorable Mention: MSY, LAX, FLL, FRA, AMS,
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Last edited by theblakefish; Jul 17, 07 at 5:37 pm.
Programs: AA EXP/2MM, QF WP, DL PM, US Conscientious Objector, TED Boycotter, SPG PLT, TSA Disparager Diamond
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That's crazy. The ORD AC and FL are the happiest places on earth.
LHR, LGW, and MAN. Those are my avoid at all costs airports. DEL is another one, but I don't have much choice if I want a reasonably-priced, upgradable flight to India.
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The "avoid this airport" advice is only reasonable if there's a better alternative serving the city in question. You're probably not going to cancel a visit to PHL, especially a business trip, because the airport is awful; you're probably not going to schedule a visit to Seattle because the airport is not so bad. And JFK, EWR and LGA are three peas in a pod, trouble-wise.
So, that said, the only airport on my regular list that I can and do take pains to avoid is Heathrow.
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CDG hands down. I never knew how bad it was until I was there. It's really hell disguise as an airport.
LGA / JFK / EWR... depends on where you fly to. Domestic flights, I would pick LGA any time over JFK. Much faster to get in and out, including the ride into town. Int'l flight, I would choose EWR because immigration lines are faster. EWR is nicer than LGA & JFK. LGA is a dump but the shuttle terminal is nice and clean.
The "avoid this airport" advice is only reasonable if there's a better alternative serving the city in question. You're probably not going to cancel a visit to PHL, especially a business trip, because the airport is awful;
However, if your only options to get between your origin and destination are connecting flights, then you may want to choose connecting airports that have fewer problems.
I'm not sure I agree with their two-factor assessment. For me, I think they should have weighted cancellations over delays. I'll be much more miserable having to spend the night in the airport than arriving or leaving late (ORD and PHL, I'm looking at you).
Weighting cancellations and delays can be done by calculating each passenger's delay.
Examples:
a. Passenger's flight is delayed so that s/he arrives 2 hours late at his/her destination. Counts as 2 hours.
b. Passenger's flight is cancelled; s/he is rebooked on flights that arrive at his/her destination 4 hours later. Counts as 4 hours.
c. Passenger's first segment is delayed 2 hours, causing him/her to misconnect. The next available flight to his/her destination is the next day, arriving 14 hours later than his/her original flight as originally scheduled. Counts as 14 hours.
Overall average passenger delays (perhaps separated into originating, destination, and connecting passengers) can be calculated, giving the amount of delay misery at each airport.
Interestingly, I find 4 of the 5 "least miserable" airports my
personal most miserable ones. I mean, OAK and STL, for
crying out loud. The fifth I won't fly into or out of because
no airline I would set foot in goes there.
Goes to show what happens when some cub reporter who
thinks flying WN is really cool gets hold of a few numbers.
