I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane
-- But When?
How does the wait at your favorite airport compare? Would your wait typically be longer at Midway or O'Hare? How have the terrorist attacks of September 11th and the subsequent increase in airport security impacted our nation's airports?
A study conducted in March 2002, by travel expert Travelocity, surveyed nearly 3000 travelers who had flown from January 1, 2002 to March 5, 2002 to determine if any changes were noticed regarding airport wait times and traveler attitudes.
The extra time at the airport may have less to do with lines at security and more with the consistency of the security from airport to airport. While security measures are becoming slightly more consistent, they are still largely unpredictable overall.
The following airports were most frequently cited by survey participants as having overall waits of 60 minutes or longer due to increased security measures:
| Rank |
Airport |
% waiting more than 60 min. March 2002 |
| 1 |
Oakland, CA |
35% |
| 2 |
Indianapolis, IN |
34% |
| 3 |
San Francisco, CA |
31% |
| 4 |
San Diego, CA |
31% |
| 5 |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
30% |
| 6 |
Miami, FL |
27% |
| 7 |
Pittsburgh, PA |
27% |
| 8 |
Seattle/Tacoma, WA |
26% |
| 9 |
Los Angeles, CA |
26% |
| 10 |
Denver, CO |
24% |
"While airports have gone to great lengths to improve security processes and minimize wait times, the big picture is that things are still inconsistent from airport to airport,'' said Terrell B. Jones, president and chief executive officer of Travelocity. "While travelers are adapting to the new environment, they are also having to factor in additional time because they cannot predict with certainty how long it will take to get through security at each airport. Clearly there remains the need for more consistency at airports."
Although wait times have slightly improved, travelers are spending about the same amount of additional time at airports due to new security measures and early arrival times. Overall, 47% of travelers are spending between 30 to 60 additional minutes at airports due to increased security, compared to 52% in a similar study done by the same company in November 2001.
Denver International Airport shows the greatest improvement in regard to longest waits due to security and additional wait times -- Compared to 53% of travelers who waited 60 minutes or longer in November, Denver has greatly improved wait times with only 24% in March who said they experienced similar wait times because of security or because they arrived at the airport early.
Overall comparison of America's top airports from November 2001 to March 2002
In a comparative analysis, the following airports are ranked by the greatest degree of improvement:
| Rank (by % of improvement) |
Airport |
% waiting 60 min or more in March 2002 |
% waiting 60 min or more in November 2001 |
% change |
| 1 |
Denver, CO |
24% |
53% |
-29% |
| 2 |
Ft. Myers, FL |
13% |
35% |
-22% |
| 3 |
Chicago, IL (Midway) |
8% |
29% |
-21% |
| 4 |
Portland, OR |
18% |
37% |
-19% |
| 5 |
Baltimore/ Washington DC |
21% |
38% |
-17% |
| 6 |
St. Louis, MO |
20% |
36% |
-16% |
| 7 |
Washington, DC (Dulles) |
17% |
31% |
-14% |
| 8 |
Boston, MA |
22% |
35% |
-13% |
| 9 |
Chicago, IL (O'Hare) |
18% |
30% |
-12% |
| 10 |
Philadelphia, PA |
20% |
31% |
-11% |
| 11 |
New Orleans, LA |
16% |
26% |
-10% |
| 12 |
Dallas/Fort Worth, TX |
13% |
23% |
-10% |
| 13 |
Raleigh/Durham, NC |
14% |
24% |
-10% |
| 14 |
Minneapolis/St Paul |
13% |
22% |
-9% |
| 15 |
San Jose, CA |
20% |
29% |
-9% |
| 16 |
Cleveland, OH |
18% |
26% |
-8% |
| 17 |
Sacramento, CA |
16% |
23% |
-7% |
| 18 |
Atlanta, GA |
22% |
28% |
-7% |
| 19 |
Newark, NJ |
17% |
24% |
-7% |
| 20 |
Kansas City, MO |
20% |
26% |
-6% |
| 21 |
Fort Lauderdale, FL |
30% |
35% |
-5% |
| 22 |
Detroit, MI |
22% |
27% |
-5% |
| 23 |
Washington, DC (Reagan) |
21% |
25% |
-4% |
| 24 |
Columbus, OH |
23% |
26% |
-3% |
| 25 |
San Francisco, |
31% |
34% |
-3% |
| 26 |
Las Vegas, NV |
21% |
24% |
-3% |
| 27 |
Los Angeles, CA |
26% |
28% |
-2% |
| 28 |
New York (La Guardia) |
19% |
21% |
-2% |
| 29 |
Orlando, FL |
21% |
23% |
-2% |
| 30 |
New York, NY (Kennedy) |
15% |
16% |
-1% |
Comprehensive results of this study may be found at www.travelocity.com/polls.
|
