We always know where to go when we need to know what the public thinks of something — Twitter. Forbes agrees and took a little time analyzing tweets to find out which major airports we think are the absolute worst. Well, not only the ones that are the worst, but the ones that tick us off when we have to fly through them. See if you agree with Twitter about the worst airports in the U.S., or if you think we aren’t using our powers for good in this case.
The way Forbes got there
The airports
Forbes kept it to any tweets aimed directly at the 60 biggest airports. So, if you don’t see one on the list you’re looking for, that could be why.
The magic words
- Noise
- Staff
- TSA
- Complaints
- Delayed
- Security
- Hours
There are specific words that were searched for to narrow things down. Forbes captured tweets that contained these words to hone in on the anger.
The airport with the most hate
- John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, with 65% of the tweets
It seems being the neighboring airport to the happiest place on Earth doesn’t mean all that much. But if you were the airport next to one of the busiest places to visit, you might struggle to get through the day yourself. Add the holidays when things are insane at an airport anyway, and you might rethink hitting publish on your next tweet. Or your rage-filled tweet might be published faster. It’s a toss-up.
The main reasons
- Amount and length of delays
- The general attitude of the staff
- TSA complaints
- Overall noise
Those are all solid reasons to be angry at the airport. There’s nothing to make people heavy sigh more than seeing another delay when they just want to get to their destination.
Principal at Southern California PR firm Green Flash Media Jeremy Hyatt knows firsthand why the tweets are getting heated toward the airport. He sympathizes with both sides, but states that it’s “challenging for many visitors due to long rental car and TSA lines, unexpected California taxes and fees, limited take-off and landing times, and extended luggage wait times.” Yes, all that would put a damper on things for people who just want to be on vacation. That’s not a relaxing start.
The runners up
- Jacksonville International Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, with 60% of mad tweets
- Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, landed 59% of the hate
By comparison, the busiest airport in the world only ranked sixth. That’s not too bad for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It could easily drop out of the top 10 in the future.
What airports keep the angry tweets away
- Indianapolis International Airport
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
- Kansas City International Airport
These airports seem to have things together a bit more. Indianapolis International Airport actually ranks as the best in customer service for a midsize airport in North America.
While we can’t always follow the tweets for complete accuracy — as with Tampa International Airport, which has 57% of angry tweets thrown at it, but was given top honors in a passenger satisfaction survey by J.D. Power — they do give a heads-up for potential problems. That makes planning for your flight easier, as you’ll know what you could face. Plus, we love to see what’s happening on Twitter, so keep the tweets coming.
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