53 replies to this topic

[soverbey]

Which city in the South do you believe has the best airport?

- in terms of delays and how long you get in and out
- restaurants/services
- parking
- etc...etc..etc.

[johnnydr87]

I think the undisputed leader is Atlanta.  Isn't it one of the busiest airports in the nation, after La Guardia, O Hare, and LA?

Who in their right mind would vote Jackson?  Or Birmingham?  Or whatever?

[Newnan]

Hartsfield is the busiest airport in the world

[krazeeboi]

How in the world did Jackson get listed before Houston or Dallas or even Dulles (others come to mind as well)?

While Atlanta is the undisputed leader here, all of my experiences at Charlotte-Douglas have been rather pleasant.

[Jerseyman4]

I pick RDU International Airport even though its not on the list

^agreed

Edited by Jerseyman4, 08 May 2006 - 03:08 PM.

[thedude26]

The question is best airport, not busiest.  While Hartsfield is fairly well layed out, they have one of the higher delay rates for major airports, and don't even get me started on customer service, horrible!

[monsoon]

I have flown into most of these airports as a business traveler, and I its been my experience that Atlanta is the best designed and does not have any equal in this area.  Even though it is the 1st or 2nd busiest in the world, it handles the business so well it isn't an issue.   The worst airports I have been in in the South, though not in the list are in Dallas & Houston.   They are poorly designed IMO.

[hustle4alivin]

I've been to quite a few of those airports on the list, and Tampa wins hands down with Orlando being a close second, in terms of layout and ease of use and efficiency of their facilities.

When you drive into Tampa Airport, the main short-term parking is located right on top of the Terminal. The terminals are color coded ('Red' and 'Blue') rather than by letter, number or direction. Elevators swoop you right down into the main terminal, and the Arrivals, Tickets, and Departure levels are separate from each other, which cuts down on intermingling foot traffic in the Landside Terminal (a MAJOR pet peeve of mine at say, Atlanta Airport). And instead of a long walk down a concourse, a shuttle train takes you to your Terminal, and there is minimal walking to your gate. Also, the security checkpoint is in each Concourse, rather than in the terminal itself. Orlando, on the other hand has the security checkpoints in the terminal.

Also, TIA's signage is easy to read, making the airport easy to navigate around in.

OIA beats TIA in terms of Restaurants and shopping, but it is a far busier Airport than TIA. Parking is a bit more of a pain, but you have more options here than you do at TIA.

Atlanta has a great layout if your changing planes, but it is hell if your leaving from Atlanta itself, rather than just changing through. One security checkpoint for six concourses! Also, the Concourses are narrow and crowded. Whoever designed the airport really should have considered making the councourses wider to install moving sidewalks.

Why aren't Dallas, Houston, Memphis or Raleigh on here?

[TBurban]

hustle4alivin, on May 8 2006, 06:41 PM, said:

Why aren't Dallas, Houston, Memphis or Raleigh on here?

Or Richmond and Norfolk.......

I love Orlando's though, they got my vote on this one.

[hustle4alivin]

johnnydr87, on May 8 2006, 03:23 PM, said:

I think the undisputed leader is Atlanta.  Isn't it one of the busiest airports in the nation, after La Guardia, O Hare, and LA?

Atlanta is THE busiest airport in the nation in both number of passengers (since 1998) and arrivals/departures 1999-2000 and 2005-present). It should be interesting how ATL ranks if Delta goes out of business in the next few years due to their financial problems.

LAX is the busiest airport in the country in terms of people flying to their final destination (rather than just changing planes).

Memphis is the busiest airport in terms of Cargo traffic.

Quote

Who in their right mind would vote Jackson?  Or Birmingham?  Or whatever?

People From there  

[GoodNews]

Hartsfield has to be the best and I next I would say Dallas, but it's not on the list.  I'm not sure about Birmingham, Tampa, or Memphis.

[Plasticman]

thedude26, on May 8 2006, 06:06 PM, said:

The question is best airport, not busiest.  While Hartsfield is fairly well layed out, they have one of the higher delay rates for major airports, and don't even get me started on customer service, horrible!

Couldn't disagree more.  Hartsfield has every other MAJOR airport I've flown out of beaten badly, especially in how modern it is and the transit system used to get around.  Even with the "extra" security check, I made it competely across the airport in just a few minutes in time for my flight.   Delays are a fact of life. The busier you are, the more delays.   I haven't had any delay at Atlanta but had a major one at O'hare.

Now if you want to get in and out quickly,  the best I've seen is Akron, Canton in Ohio.  If you ever fly to Cleveland, don't go there.  Go to Akron/Canton airport.  You'll be out in minutes.

[Spartan]

If you only deciding factor is delays, then smaller airports will win because they don't have enough traffic to cause delays. Its important to consider the entire airport experience.

[wrldcoupe4]

I'd say given its recent undergoing expansion and the attraction of 2 lowcost carriers that significantly lowered prices, Richmond is one of the most improved southern airports... Growth over the past year was phenomenal and that was before Jet Blue was in town. Look for serious growth coming from RIC in the coming years.

I don't think it's the best though. Dulles is nice if yall consider it part of the south; I'm sure Atlanta probably takes the cake here.

[Aporkalypse]

I prefer DFW To Atlanta and Orlando, in that order.   The widely separated terminals and parking arrangements at DFW make it easier to get around and the underground tram is better than the  above-ground thing in Atlanta.  Orlando is nice but man the bottlenecks there are awful.  They really needed completely separate terminals with separate parking and entrances as well as distinct security checkpoints.

I like Charlotte's airport but I can't say much about it as I only connected there.


For the record, ATL is the world's busiest airport.  O'Hare is #2, LAX #5, and DFW #6.  Orlando is #21.

[monsoon]

Huh?   Atlanta has an underground subway between the concourses.  Its not above ground and it is much faster  and higher capacity than the one in DFW.

[Eastwestrob]

monsoon, on May 10 2006, 01:22 PM, said:

Huh?   Atlanta has an underground subway between the concourses.  Its not above ground and it is much faster  and higher capacity than the one in DFW.

Yes and If I remember right the DFW tram is actually above ground about 30 feet in the air. I remember looking down on the tops of the planes.

[SBCmetroguy]

Eastwestrob, on May 10 2006, 01:02 PM, said:

Yes and If I remember right the DFW tram is actually above ground about 30 feet in the air. I remember looking down on the tops of the planes.

DFW is also cut in half by International Parkway, which creates a need for expensive overpasses. That's just one of the reasons that I hate the design of that airport.

[Eastwestrob]

My choice would be Charlotte/Douglas. I fly every 2 weeks and have never had a delay or overbooked flight. (Lucky)

[satalac]

gotta go with hartsfield. to be able to handle the amount that it does and still run as smoothly as it does is simply amazing. flying to hawaii i had to fly from nashville to atlanta, to lax. atlanta was definatly the easiest to get around conpared to those 3 (not that nashville is all that hard, we only have 4 concourses. plus it's pretty easy because ticket and concourse is on level 3, baggage is on level 2 and ground travel is on level 1.)