And, using US Department of Transportation databases, we figured out how likely your flight is to take off on time - or at all - once you get there. Partnering with INRIX, the traffic-analytics experts, we assessed how quickly or slowly it takes to get to an airport.
We painstakingly pored over a wider range of elements that help make a site more sustainable or that show that an airport tries to maintain a deep connection to the community it serves. Taking into account reader feedback and TPG staff’s experiences, we tweaked how much we weighed various factors, like increasing the emphasis on airport amenities, reasoning that that’s the area that airports have the most control over. First off, we expanded our list from the 30 to the 50 busiest airports in the US. In our fourth year ranking airports, we broadened our scope in several ways. And then you’ve got airports with off-the-wall features or that have earned cult followings. On the other end, there are those that have barely elevated themselves beyond bus depots for planes. There are airports that have invested heavily in their restaurants and services and arguably become worthwhile destinations unto themselves. Where you begin and end a journey can mean the difference between a wonderful trip and a terrible one, and that often means the airport.Īnd there’s a wide spectrum when it comes to US airports.