If you work in the world of business, then you’re probably very familiar with having to board a plane every so often in order to make those essential work trips to the other side of the country or abroad.
And it also means that you’re probably very familiar with just how stressful some of these trips can be, especially when it comes to getting through airport security and hanging around in whatever flight lounge is available.
Of course, some airports are naturally going to be better to fly from than others. This might be because they’re quieter on average and their TSA wait times are low, or it could be something as simple as having fantastic Wi-Fi so you can work or watch a movie while you wait.
Either way, a good airport can really reduce the stress of a trip, but that begs the question – which US airport is the best for those who need to travel for work?
To find out, we looked at America’s 30 busiest airports and ranked them based on several key factors, including how many passengers they serve per year, how many lounges they have, their average Wi-Fi speed, and more, all to make it easier for you to know where to fly from if you have a work flight coming up.
Take a look at our findings below.
The top 5 best US airports for business travelers
First things first, let’s highlight just which airports in the US are best for business travelers by breaking down the top 5 on our list:
1. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Claiming the top spot on our list, we have Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. One of the busiest airports in Texas, Dallas/Fort Worth saw over 35,345,138 people pass through its doors in 2022 alone (making it the second busiest airport on our list overall), and there’s a very good reason for this.
Put simply, Dallas/Fort Worth has everything you could want in a modern airport. For one thing, it has 18 different airport lounges for you to relax in, as well as an average Wi-Fi speed of 425.0 mbps, making it easy to get work done or chill out until your flight takes off.
On top of this, Dallas/Fort Worth operates roughly 1,800 flights per day, while TSA wait times are as little as 15.9 minutes. All of which might be the main reason why this airport has a Google rating of 4.1 overall, from 52,387 reviews.
In fact, the only place Dallas/Fort Worth falls down is in its delayed flights, with an average of 21% of flights being delayed in 2023. Though with an airport this busy, that’s somewhat to be expected.
2. O’Hare International Airport
Next up, we have O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. Centrally located and surprisingly close to Chicago’s city center, O’Hare is another naturally busy airport due to its location, seeing 33,120,474 passengers in 2022. However, O’Hare has helped prevent itself from being overcrowded by having 16 different lounges for you to work out of!
Alongside this, O’Hare runs about 2,520 flights per day, which is quite a bit more than Dallas/Fort Worth, and yet has also managed to keep TSA wait times to just 15 minutes overall. And the good news doesn’t stop there, as O’Hare only saw an average of 19% of flights being delayed in 2023, once again beating out Dallas/Fort Worth.
However, O’Hare does stumble a little bit when it comes to Wi-Fi speed, which averages only 324.9 mbps, but it’s still good enough for O’Hare to earn a 4-star rating on Google from 48,273 reviews.
3. Dulles International Airport
Coming in third we have Washington D.C.’s main airport, Dulles International. And if you like things to be a little quieter when you travel, then we have good news for you, as Dulles only served 10,266,324 passengers in 2022 – that’s the third quietest airport out of those we ranked!
On top of this, Dulles has the joint best average internet speed overall, at 506.7 mbps, alongside the second-lowest TSA waiting, which averaged out at only 10.5 minutes. Add to this the fact that just 9% of the flights from Dulles were delayed in 2023 and it’s clear why this airport ranked so highly.
But, with that being said, Dulles is also a rather small airport, and things can get a bit crowded when busy. Case and point, Dulles only has 4 lounges for you to work from, and with only 220 flights per day, that 9% of delays actually works out to be slightly more impactful than first appears.
4. Logan International Airport
Boston’s main point of call when it comes to flights, Logan International Airport is located right in the heart of the city and saw a reasonable passenger high of 17,443,775 in 2022, placing it solidly in the middle of the table when it comes to how busy an airport it is.
As for its amenities, Logan International has 12 lounges for those needing to work, bolstered by a strong internet speed of 425.9 mbps, so you’ll have no trouble staying connected regardless of wait times.
And speaking of wait time, when it comes to getting through the TSA, you’re also in good hands, as the average for Dulles is just 10.6 minutes, despite operating around 1,200 flights per day.
All of this comes together to give Logan International a Google rating of 4.1 from 19,717 reviews, which is excellent when you consider that around 18% of the flights from Logan in 2023 were delayed to some degree.
5. Baltimore/Washington International Airport
Last in our top 5 but more than worthy of the position, we have Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Another quiet option airport option for those in the D.C. and Baltimore area, Baltimore/Washington International saw an average of 11,151,169 passengers throughout 2022, while only having 8% of their flights delayed during 2023.
Much like Dulles, Baltimore/Washington International does struggle when it comes to lounge space, with only 5 areas available for passengers, but it makes up for this by matching Dulles for internet speed – also having an average connection of 506.7 mbps.
However, while all this is good, Baltimore does suffer some higher TSA wait times, which sit at 18.2 minutes on average, though this clearly isn’t putting passengers off as Baltimore/Washington has a 4.3 rating on Google from 18,933 reviews.
The least popular airports to travel from in the US
Having looked at the top 5 airports to travel from in the US for business, let’s now look at the 3 airports that came at the bottom of our rankings:
1. Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport
Landing right at the bottom of our ranking we have Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Wedged into the center of Miami, Fort Lauderdale isn’t the busiest airport, catering to an average of 15,370,165 passengers in 2022. However, with only 3 lounges available to work, saying it’s crowded might be an understatement.
On top of this, at least 33% of all flights in 2023 were delayed when flying out of Fort Lauderdale, the most out of any airport on our list, which equates to over 250 of the 700 flights per day being affected.
And things only continue to go downhill for Fort Lauderdale, as its average Wi-Fi speed is only 322.4 mbps; by no means slow, but nothing compared to those airports in our top 5. Add to this the lengthy TSA wait times of around 19.6 minutes and you’re going to spend a fair amount of time at Fort Lauderdale simply waiting around.
2. Midway International Airport
Next up, we have Midway International Airport, the smaller sibling of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. And, unfortunately, while Midway International is located a similar distance away from Chicago city center as O’Hare and is the quietest airport we ranked with just 9,650,281 passengers in 2022, it simply can’t compete with our 2nd place airport.
First and foremost, Midway International lacks any lounges to work out of, making it the only airport on our list not to have one. And while internet speeds are stable at 324.9 mbps, this is small consolation when you’re sat in a packed waiting area.
On top of this, Midway International operates just 34 flights per day – 34! Again, putting it bottom for this factor and only making this more inconvenient when you consider that 8% of these in 2023 were delayed, meaning at least 3 flights per day were not leaving on time
Finally, Midway International holds the unenviable position of being the lowest-rated airport out of the 30 we assess, holding a Google rating of only 3.7 stars. Granted, this is only from 4,341 reviews, but it’s still rather telling.
3. San Diego International Airport
Finally, rounding out the bottom 3 of our unpopular airports to travel from, we have San Diego International Airport. Despite San Diego being a very popular US city to visit, San Diego International seems ill-prepared to handle the influx of potential tourists coming its way – including having an incredibly slow Wi-Fi speed of just 93 mbps for its 6 lounges!
Alongside this, San Diego International only operates a small number of flights per day at just 252. Add to this the fact that 21% of flights leaving San Diego often get delayed and your web pages won’t be the only thing taking forever to get started.
But, with all that being said, San Diego International is still a highly rated airport, with a Google rating of 4.2 from 16,379 reviews, which may be due to reasonable TSA wait times of 15.5 minutes on average as well as the fantastic view from the terminal of the bay and Naval Air Station opposite.
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And there you have it; those are the best airports to fly from in the US if you’re traveling on business this year. Of course, not all areas of your business require you to travel to clients or customers in person, such as your customer service or receptionist teams.
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