Business travel can’t always wait, so people fly to business trips at all times, seasons, and weather. Holiday and spring travel can be unpredictable, making the journey even more stressful. However, there are airports in the U.S. that can handle high traffic any time, making it seem like a breeze, while others can’t function at all.
We wanted to make a list of best and worst airports from business traveller’s standpoint and help you decide where to go more frequently and what to avoid altogether.
What criterion did we take for our evaluation?
We looked at key things:
- Airport performance data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
- How close each of those airports is to downtown
- What amenities and services business travelers can use in the airport itself
All in all, the best airports were located all over the country and had the biggest flight availability, flights were on time, and travellers had great access to airport lounges and entertainment between flights.
What are five best airports for business?
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- Chicago O-Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
What are five worst airports for business?
- Memphis International Airport (MEM)
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
- Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ)
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
Let’s take a closer look at winners and losers
Winners:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
This airport has been the busiest in the world for the last two decades, but can handle any traffic without delays and cancellations. It has the highest number of flights in the U.S. – 386,900 and caters to 103 million passengers each year. The airport is just 10 miles from Atlanta downtown and has more than 10 lounges with Wi-Fi. Parking around the airport is just around $10 and the proximity of great hotels is more than satisfying.
- Chicago O-Hare International Airport (ORD)
This airport is the biggest competitor for Atlanta airport, but lacks a little bit in performance with fewer flights and slightly worse flight performance at close to 2% flight cancelation, vs Atlanta’s 1%.
O’Hare has 17 lounges with internet, where ATL has only 14, so it’s a win here. Chicago is definitely expensive to stay at, but parking beats many other major cities at just $10.
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
The airport is currently undergoing major renovations to make it more tech-friendly and higher-capacity. It’s an important business traveling hub for north Texas with 220 destinations.
The DFW is 20 miles from downtown Dallas, but compensates with 10 Wi-Fi equipped lounges and $10 parking.
- Denver International Airport (DEN)
Denver airport can definitely win with Rocky Mountain views all around. This airport is the second largest in the world and one of the central places for long layovers due to its central location.
The airport has lower flight traffic than the three winners, but its performance was as good as Atlanta’s. The airport is 20 miles away from downtown Denver and very costly to stay around. One really good thing – parking is just $8 per day.
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
This airport is a hub for flights to the west and across the Pacific to Asia. Over 80% of flights were on time to leave and to arrive with 0.83% cancellation rate. LAX has 22 Wi-Fi lounges and is located 17 miles from downtown. Given the traffic in LA, it might be hard to reach its downtown. Accommodation prices are above average, understandably. The parking is $12 and we give points for that.
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Losers:
While the best airports are our busiest and largest, the worst five are small and inconvenient. You can definitely expect less flight available and number of lounges, but most regional airports struggle with a high flight delay and frequent cancellations.
Let’s take a look:
- Memphis International Airport (MEM)
The airport is only 10 miles from Memphis downtown and used to be an important hub for Northwest airlines. After those airlines got acquired by Delta, business traffic took a back seat and now there are very little direct flights to many destinations. The airport remains busy with FedEx planes. The traffic might be low, but performance is not bad. The city is extremely affordable at $6 airport parking per day and low hotel rates. The worst thing about MEM is its one and only lounge with Wi-Fi.
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
The state of Alaska has over 200 small airports with ANC being the biggest of them all. Anchorage is not the most popular destination for business travellers, unless they are from oil, fishing, mining, or tourism industries. This airport is the central point for all flyers to other states. ANC performs almost the same number of inbound and outbound flights as Memphis, but has a higher cancellation rate. What hurts this airport the most is one lounge with Wi-Fi and high cost of accommodations nearby.
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
A lot might change with Amazon opening its air cargo hub there in 2021, but for now, things are looking quite slow at this airport that caters to two states. The flight performance is not bad, but there were only 18,800 flights in 2017, which is very little when compared with close to 400,000 in ATL.
There are 2 lounges in the airport, which is 13 miles from downtown Cincinnati. $9 parking seems expensive for this low-cost area.
- Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ)
This airport caters to New Mexico and services over 5 million people per year. There are direct flights for 24 U.S. cities with the airport being a good layover location. The cancellation rate is low in this airport, but there are no lounges with Wi-Fi, which is a deal-breaker for all business travellers. On a positive note, ABQ can be commended for its affordable hotels and parking.
- Palm Beach International Airport (PBI)
This airport is the smallest one of all top 5 Florida’s airports. The airport is small, so one lounge is understandable, but what’s not so easily excusable is lack of punctuality and over 1% of flight cancellations. What’s good about this hotel is its proximity to downtown and affordable accommodations and parking.