Naughty and nice airports for holiday travel: What list is your airport on?
Forbes analysts churned through customer complaints, flight delays, cancelations, lost baggage claims and ticket costs increases to narrow down the best and worst airports to fly into and out of during the holiday season.
List of naughty and nice airports for holiday travel
Forbes released their list of the worst and best airports to fly into and out of this holiday season. Where does your favorite airport rank?
What airports are on the naughty list, and which are nice this holiday season? With over 7 million Americans expected to fly, according to AAA, we are all looking for the least hassle and delay.
Analysts churned through customer complaints, flight delays, cancelations, lost baggage claims and ticket cost increases to narrow down the best and worst airports to fly into and out of during the holiday.
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Holiday travel can mean long lines and delays.
(Mark Wilson / Getty Images)
Forbes published the list and even included the best and worst airlines to fly during the holiday season after looking at the 100 busiest airports across the U.S.
Let's start with the good news. Not surprisingly, airports in moderate climates came out on top - six of the top 10 are in California. Mid-sized airports that focused on domestic flights fared better than the major hubs as well.
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The best airports during holiday travel
Forbes ranked the top 5 airports for holiday travel across the U.S.
(Forbes / FOX Weather)
- Long Beach Airport in Long Beach, California: Low prices and minimal holiday price hikes, along with few complaints, gave this Los Angeles metro airport near-perfect scores
- Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport in Kona, Hawaii: This Big Island airport had the lowest cancelation rate of all 100 airports surveyed
- Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in San Jose, California: The San Francisco metro airport scored well in on-time flights
- Sacramento International Airport in Sacramento, California: SMF came in second when it came to the fewest delays among the 100 airports
- Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California: The San Francisco metro airport is further inland from SFO and doesn't suffer as many fog delays
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Marine layer, fog, often blankets the San Francisco Bay Area. Only the very top of the Golden Gate Bridge was visible on this day.
(Frederic Larson/San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images)
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While San Francisco metro airports scored well, SFO itself did not. San Francisco International Airport was the 7th worst for holiday travel. High holiday prices for fares and delays took a toll on the rating.
The worst airports for holiday travel
These are the worst airports for holiday travel, according to Forbes.
(FOX Weather)
The naughty list of the worst airlines for holiday travel, according to Forbes, starts with Westchester County Airport in the New York metro area. Most of the airports are in areas with weather extremes.
- Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York
- Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska
- McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee
- Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in Bozeman, Montana
- The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Orlando Sanford International Airport in Sanford, Florida
- San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California
- Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, Virginia
- Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin
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Deicing can add long delays.
(John Autey/MediaNews Group/St. Paul Pioneer Press / Getty Images)
Top airlines for holiday travel from worst to best
Forbes also rated the 8 largest airlines with the least merry to the merriest passengers.
- JetBlue Airways: Topped this list of worst airlines for holiday travel because it had the lowest percentage of on-time flights
- SkyWest Airlines: The airline had the highest percentage of flight cancelations and was third in mishandled bags
- Spirit Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Frontier Airlines
- American Airlines
- United Airlines
- Alaska Airlines: Despite the impressive percentage of mishandled bags and coming in second for canceled flights, the airline had few complaints
Tough travel weather this season
Already, the 2022 holiday season is shaping up to be one for tough travel. A massive winter storm threatens millions as many of us head out of town before Christmas.
113 MILLION AMERICANS EXPECTED TO TRAVEL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AS MAJOR WINTER STORM LOOMS
Be sure to download the FOX Weather app to track storms in your area or at your destination and receive potentially life-saving weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service. The free FOX Weather livestream is also available 24/7 on the website and app and on your favorite streaming platform. The FOX Weather Update podcast also provides weather information for the entire country.