Consumer Reports magazine ranks U.S. airports

CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Consumer Reports magazine, in a review of U.S. airports released on Wednesday, finds Chicago O'Hare, New York LaGuardia, Miami International, Newark International and Westchester County, New York, as the worst of the lot when it comes to delays and a lack of value fares.

The magazine in a report to be published in its October issue said the better airports in that same category were Denver International, Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Long Island MacArthur, Orlando International and Dallas-Fort Worth International.

The report was based on a look at Federal Aviation Administration records, an analysis by an airline industry consulting firm and visits to 45 airports, the publication said. It came after a summer of air travel problems that have taxed the U.S. system, frustrating passengers travelling in record numbers, carriers and government regulators alike.

RELATED RESOURCE Click for the full report from Consumer Reports     ALSO Get links for dozens of U.S. and international airports

In general all airports got good and bad marks in various categories. O'Hare, for instance, got top marks for in-airport food services, as did Miami.

Grading convenience

In the area of convenience -- access to gates and rental cars and availability of parking -- the worst were O'Hare, Denver, Atlanta Hartsfield and Miami.

The better airports in that category were Colorado Springs, Long Beach, Manchester, New Hampshire, New York's Stewart International and Rhode Island's T.R. Green.

The report said secondary airports increasingly offer better fares and less hassle -- though often not the wide choice and nonstop flights of the bigger fields.

"Many of the inconveniences facing today's air travel are structural -- a result of the domination of gates at major hub airports by airlines exercising local monopoly power," the report said.

"The situation won't be relieved until the Department of Transportation upgrades the capacity in the nation's air traffic control system and fosters more competition by providing lower-fare carriers more equitable access to airports," it said.

"It will also require federal antitrust regulators to scrutinize rigorously new mergers among the dominant airlines, such as United's proposed acquisition of US Airways."

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Newark, San Francisco top list of flight delays
February 18, 1999

Consumer Reports

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