Which airports are the worst airports in the US? J.D. Power just put out its 2026 North America Airport Satisfaction Study. Minneapolis, Detroit and Phoenix came out on top of the mega airports. Denver, Newark and O’Hare came out at the bottom. I have been flying through these airports for over 30 years, as an airline employee and as a regular traveler, here is my list, airport by airport, with the one thing that makes each one annoying.
What did the J.D. Power 2026 airport rankings say?
The mega airport list, best to worst, goes like this. Minneapolis, Detroit, Phoenix, LaGuardia, Harry Reid (Las Vegas), San Francisco, Miami, John F. Kennedy, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles, George Bush (Houston), Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Newark and O’Hare.
Atlanta is near the bottom. No surprise there. But Phoenix at number three? Who is filling out these forms?
Most of what bothers me about US airports comes down to one thing. Can you get from where you landed to where you are going without leaving security? At a lot of these airports the answer is no. If you connect between airlines, or you arrive internationally, you are coming out and going back through TSA. That is the test I use below.
Why is Atlanta (ATL) my number one worst airport?
I just don’t like Atlanta. It is five concourses, T, A, B, C, D, E and F. Once you get in you go downstairs, you wait for the train, you take the train to your concourse, and you go upstairs again.
Then there is TSA. The signs tell you to go one way and you actually have to go a different way. Finding the TSA PreCheck line, or the line that does the iris scan or whatever they call it, is difficult. It is just a mess, and it is a mess because they are the world’s busiest airport, or something like that now. Nobody wants to step back and say, let me fix it.
The one thing Atlanta does right: the MARTA train comes right into the airport.
What makes Newark (EWR) so annoying?
Newark is A, B and C. Initially you could not get between them inside security. Now you can, mostly. But then you have these people assigned to the doors, like little police, asking where you are going. I am going to Terminal B. I have a ticket. I can go through the secure area. Whoever told them that is their job, that is weird. I don’t know if they have stopped that, but it is very annoying.
Here is the real problem. You arrive internationally and you land in B. There is no secure way to get from B to C. You have to get out of the terminal, make a right, and follow the pathway. Or if you are going to A, you go upstairs and take the AirTrain. It takes a while to get from C to A, so if your flight arrives in A and you have to get to C, give yourself time.
Getting into Manhattan: AirTrain to the Newark airport station, then NJ Transit or Amtrak. Annoyingly, late at night they stop one of the trains. I get it, you have to do your servicing. But if you get into Newark late, just be aware that kind of nonsense will be going on.
What is wrong with JFK?
The terminals at John F. Kennedy (JFK) are connected by the AirTrain. But if you arrive in Terminal 1 and you need to get to Terminal 5, there is no way to do it inside security. Somebody had a good idea that people don’t connect between different airlines at the same airport. The answer is no. People do.
So you come out of security, go upstairs to the AirTrain, make sure you are going the right direction, ride over to Terminal 5, go down a level, walk the long walkway, and go through TSA again. The cool part is you get to see the TWA Hotel and the Connie on the way. The rest is awful. Same thing in reverse. Terminal 5 does not connect to anything either.
Do not book a tight connection at JFK. Even on the same airline.
The other thing. Say you are flying American out of Terminal 8. The only club in that terminal is the American Airlines club. If you don’t have the American credit card, or Admirals Club membership, or British Airways Executive Club, you can’t use a lounge. I have a Priority Pass card. There is no Priority Pass lounge in there. Terminal 4 and Terminal 1 have Priority Pass lounges. Outside of that, nothing. And there is a terminal where Norwegian flew with no lounge at all. How do you build an airport terminal in 2026 with no lounge?
Even after they finish all the construction, this problem is still going to be there. All they seem to be fixing is the roadways.
Is LaGuardia (LGA) still bad?
LaGuardia is not a bad airport anymore. They have done a lot better with the new terminals. It is actually easier. But if you fly in on Delta and you are connecting to American, you can’t do it inside security. You walk outside, which takes forever, or you take the bus between terminals.
No train either. Getting into the city is a combination of buses to Flushing or Manhattan, then the subway or the Long Island Rail Road.
How long does San Francisco (SFO) take?
San Francisco has gotten a lot better. You can now walk airside from A all the way around to G. Before there was a wall and you could not get through. Now the wall is gone, and that matters, because some of the nicer lounges are in the international terminal. If you have Priority Pass you can go use them.
But give yourself an hour. It is big, and it takes forever. BART will take you into the city.
Why is Los Angeles (LAX) so complicated?
LAX did a really cool thing and a really bad thing at the same time. Tom Bradley is the international terminal, and then they built these great gates out at the 200s. It is far. You go down, you walk, there are moving walkways on some of it, you come back up, and then you go left or right to your gate.
Down there you have the guys with carts. If you look able-bodied they won’t take you. They look at you strange. I am supposed to be judged on how I look? The fact that I look okay does not mean I can walk that distance. But anyway.
The good news is the tunnels. You can now walk from Bradley to the other terminals underneath the airport, under the runways, and it is really bright and cool. I have been going to LA since before all of that was open. Back then you had to go out of security and come back in to get anywhere.
If you don’t have a lot of time at LAX, don’t bank on getting through it.
What about Minneapolis, Phoenix, Charlotte and Salt Lake City?
Minneapolis (MSP) I flew in on Sun Country and connected to American. Sun Country lands in the old terminal. I had to get out, take the train that goes into the city (it makes a stop at the airport, thankfully), ride over to the main terminal, go through security, and then get to my American gate. Not easy.
Phoenix (PHX) is really big. There is a lot of walking, especially if you are on Southwest and you have to get to American. The terminals are far apart. Charlotte (CLT) is the same way. Salt Lake City (SLC) is big too, although it is not too bad.
What happens if you need wheelchair assistance at a US airport?
If you are able-bodied, these walks are bad but not terrible. If you have to request a wheelchair, it is another story. You wait for a person to pick you up and take you to the next gate. I have traveled with someone in a wheelchair. In Charlotte they did not show up, and when they eventually did, there was an attitude when we asked. We have a flight to catch. The airline pays them every time they pick somebody up. That is the service.
Then some stations don’t have enough wheelchairs, so you get out of the chair and sit at the gate, and they disappear. When it is time to board, the agents are paging wheelchair assistance to gate 9, to whatever gate, and they take forever. That delays boarding, because agents want to board wheelchair passengers first. Sometimes they board everyone else, the assistant finally shows up, and now they have to stop boarding to get that person on.
Some of these passengers go on in an aisle chair. I am not speaking from experience, but I have heard people say they feel degraded by it. They don’t want people watching them get into a chair. If they could board earlier, they would not have to.
If you want to be depressed one day, go to the airport, sit down, and watch it. Or order a wheelchair for someone you are traveling with who needs one. The experience is not good. This is the kind of thing airline CEOs should actually do. Remember the show with the CEOs in disguise? The airline CEOs should do something similar and see what people deal with.
Miami (MIA) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
Miami, oh boy. If you are not flying American you are hosed. American has the concourses in the middle. By the way, where is Terminal A in Miami? I have never seen it. If you arrive in F or G and need to get to American, you go all the way down the concourse, out, through security, and back down. And somehow everybody in Miami has an attitude. Maybe I am just spoiled because the TSA people in Houston are so pleasant. I have just never had good luck in Miami.
Fort Lauderdale is the same way. The terminals are not connected unless you are in 3, 4 and 5. 1 and 2 are not connected.
Tampa (TPA) and Orlando (MCO)
Tampa and Orlando are built the same way. A center building with four wings off it, each with its own train. If you are on United and whoever you are connecting to is not in the United wing, you take the train back to the center, go out of security, and go back in on the other side.
Orlando is a mess on top of that because of all the children coming in for Disney. It is a mess all the time. For non-revs, it is the same thing.
Seattle (SEA) and Portland (PDX)
Seattle is actually not too bad, but everything is far away. Those satellite terminals need a train. If you have a connection in Seattle, it is a runner.
Portland is not too bad. Everything is connected, and now that they have redone it, it is a little better. The gates are still far, but they have done well with Portland. And it has a train into the city.
Houston Bush (IAH)
My home airport. Right now you can’t use B because they are redoing it, so it is A, C, D and E, with the train between them. E is actually really nice now, quote unquote, because they moved the international carriers from D over to E. The roadways have been a mess for a while.
The good thing is you can connect through security to every terminal. There is also a downstairs train that goes about two miles an hour and makes a funny sound. Most people don’t know it exists, but if you have nothing better to do, ride it from E to A and back.
A tip. If you are going to C and the security line is full, take the train over to A and come back inside. Even with the wait, it is usually quicker. B is the one that usually works because it is not too far. A is a little further, it is B, then the hotel, then A.
Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
Dallas, oh boy. Dallas has those loop terminals, five of them. Something about F but nobody is in F or something like that. So Dallas is a little complicated.
If you want to get anywhere on American out of Houston, you take the very first flight of the morning to Dallas, and they give you about 30 minutes to connect. That flight is usually on time. I was on it once when it wasn’t, and it was a runner. You arrive at D and you have to get to A, or vice versa. You take the Skylink because there is no way to walk most of it, and that train goes around and around and comes around the corner before it gets there.
They really need to rethink these airports. It is never going to happen, but there is hope.
Denver (DEN) and the minimum connect time problem
Denver is a mile walk if you are unlucky. I came in at D1 and had to go to D60. Same thing with American. I came in on one of the small airplanes from Houston, landed at one end, and my next gate could not have been further away.
Here is the thing with all of these. The airlines set minimum connect times, and sometimes those minimums are ridiculous. If you are sitting in row 34, you literally have enough time to get off the plane, walk to your gate, and get on the next plane. You are basically boarding the whole time. And then you get on the next plane and need to go to the bathroom and the flight attendant says you can’t, we are boarding. Well, I need to go now. You don’t know how far I had to walk this morning. That is a whole other story.
Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Terminal 5, the international terminal, is not connected to the rest of the airport. If you arrive there you go out, upstairs, take the train, and the train takes you over. The airport is huge. The walk under the runway, through the tunnel with the lights and the music, takes a while, especially if you are going to H or L, which is American.
I have done this one. The security line at American over at L was god-awful. I said, this is not going to happen, walked over to the United side, nobody was there, and I came in that way. If I had waited at L, I would never have made it. The good thing is the Blue Line will take you into the city.
Las Vegas (LAS) and Boston (BOS)
Las Vegas is another one. All the terminals are connected, but you have to take a train to get to them. It still takes a lot of time, but it is not too bad.
Boston is good. Everything is connected. But to go from A to E could take you an hour. C is beautiful. B and D are awful. And then you get to E, the international terminal, and it is really, really nice. I like going to E to hang out and watch the international flights come in.
Which US airports do I actually like?
Honolulu (HNL). I love Honolulu because it is outdoors. Kona (KOA) is even more outdoors. The other one is Palm Springs (PSP). You come inside security and you are still outside. The gate areas are covered, but they are open, with the breeze running through. Those airports are not bad at all.
Portland, Boston and Las Vegas get a pass too. Not perfect, but everything connects.
What do I do about it?
A few things I do, and you can too.
- Never book a tight connection between airlines at JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa or Orlando. You are going back through security.
- Arriving internationally? At Newark and JFK, assume you are leaving the secure area to reach your next flight. Plan for it.
- Give yourself an hour at San Francisco, LAX, Denver and O’Hare if your gates are at opposite ends.
- Check the other security checkpoint. At O’Hare and Houston, a different terminal’s checkpoint plus a train ride is often faster than the line in front of you.
- Traveling with someone who needs a wheelchair? Build in extra time at the gate, and be ready to ask more than once.
Now you tell me. Which US airport is your favorite, and which one can you not stand? Leave it in the comments on the video or email me at feedback@passrider.com. I’m rambling. I could go on and on. Have fun at the airport. 🙂
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst airports in the US according to J.D. Power in 2026?
In the J.D. Power 2026 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, the three lowest-ranked mega airports are Chicago O’Hare, Newark Liberty and Denver. The top three are Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Detroit and Phoenix Sky Harbor.
Which US airports let you connect between airlines without leaving security?
From my own flying, Houston Bush, Boston, Las Vegas, Portland and San Francisco connect every terminal airside. Atlanta does too, by train. The ones that don’t, at least between certain terminals, are JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Orlando.
Can you connect inside security at JFK?
Not between Terminal 1 and Terminal 5. You leave security, take the AirTrain, and go through TSA again. Do not book a tight connection at JFK, even on the same airline.
Which US airports have a train into the city?
Atlanta (MARTA), Newark (AirTrain to NJ Transit and Amtrak), JFK (AirTrain to the subway and LIRR), San Francisco (BART), Portland and Chicago O’Hare (Blue Line) all do. LaGuardia does not. It is buses to the subway or the Long Island Rail Road.
How much time should I allow to connect at Denver?
Gate to gate on the same concourse can be close to a mile. If the airline’s minimum connect time is the only cushion you have, you will be walking straight from one plane to the next. Give yourself more than the minimum.