Watch CBS News

Is your airport one of America's best -- or worst?

Latest MoneyWatch headlines
SEC probes Wells Fargo, and other MoneyWatch headlines 01:03

It turns out New Yorkers were right to complain. 

In a new review by ThePointsGuy.com of the 30 busiest airports in the U.S., the three New York City-area airports came out on the bottom, with LaGuardia Airport landing dead last. 

Best layover airports 04:07

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport topped the list, which was based on 10 categories like flight delays, cancellations, average security wait times and distance from the city center. The scores were based on data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the airports’ websites and research firms like J.D. Power & Associates. 

About Phoenix Airport, James Cury of ThePointsGuy.com told CBS MoneyWatch: “It did really well across the board except in one area. For how long it takes from the city center to drive to the airport, it took the No. 1 spot, and it was No. 2 in how long it takes from the city center using public transportation.” 

Meanwhile, he said of LaGuardia, “You might have seen photos of people getting out of their cabs on the highway because traffic is so backed up. It came in dead last in terms of flight delays and cancellations and was 28th out of 30 in terms of driving time from the city center. It was 22nd out of 30 in average security wait time, and parking was the most expensive of all 30.” 

Cury said one thing he wasn’t expecting was that the best airports would skew West so strongly. 

“The top five or six airports are all West Coast-based. I didn’t expect there would be that many aggregated in one area -- I thought there would be some in the Midwest or the South.” 

Best U.S. airports

1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

2. Portland (Oregon) International Airport

3. San Diego International Airport

4. Salt Lake City International Airport

5. Honolulu International Airport 

Worst U.S. airports

26. Detroit Metropolitan Airport

27. Chicago O’Hare International Airport

28. Newark Liberty International Airport

29. John F. Kennedy International Airport 

30. LaGuardia Airport 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.