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Though this is similar to an earlier post about Best US Airports, I thought i'd create a post in the general US forum b/c it's more appropriate.
There are lots of major hub cities for our nation's carriers. WHen people think of the super fortress hubs, they think Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago's O'Hare, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, etc.
Each city's airport offers lots of O/D opportunities and connecting opportunities. The 3 busiest are Atlanta, Chicago, and DFW. However, not every airport offers the same ease of connections, etc.
Personally, as I am biased, I feel the best hub airport in this country is DFW.
For O/D traffic, I dont think there is any other primary major airport in the US that can get you in and out of the airport as easily as DFW. YOu dont have to waste valuable time that can be done conducting business wasting time in the airport. This is b/c DFW does not have a main terminal (with the exception of Terminal D, the international terminal).
Each 5-8 gates at DFW has its own ticket counters and baggage claims. This minimizes traffic around the terminals and also gets you out the door to the parking lot within 5 min. if you did not check in luggage. The gates are on one side only and the terminals are semicircular.
For connecting passengers, DFW now has Skylink, the fastest and longest within security train system in the US. It is a high speed train, and connects you between all 5 terminals within minutes. This has earned DFW mulitple rewards and has launched it to among the elite US airports with major hub status.
Finally, American airlines is hubbed there, the world's largest carrier. Having American there means more flights to more destinations. Plus DFW's central location makes it an omnidirectional hub, funneling passengers East-West and also North South (SouthAmerica-->NorthAmerica connections)
All these factors contribute to DFW having the best hub airport.
Overall rankings based on flight options, airline hubbed there, airport facilities and retail, ease of connection, efficient use of time for O/D passengers, amount of delays.
Note: these are rankings for America's top 10 busiest airports by traffic movements.
But here's my personal ranks:
Rank: Airport Airline City
1 Dallas/Ft. Worth Int'l American DFW
2 Minneapolis/St. Paul Northwest MSP
3 Denver Int'l United, Frontier Denver
4 Houston Bush Continental Houston
5 Atlanta Hartsfield Delta, Air Tran Atlanta
6 Las Vegas Mcarran US Airways, SW Las Vegas
Allegiant
7 Chicago's O'Hare United, American Chicago
8 Phoenix Sky Harbor US Airways, SW Phoenix
9 Philadelphia Int'l US Airways Philadephia
10 Los Angeles Int'l United Los Angeles
I have had nightmarish experiences in Dallas in their sprawling airport, so I am biased against it.
Transversely, the hard thing about Chicago (O'Hare) is that incliment weather - snow, wind, fog, t-storms - etc., often cause delays. Yet, I have always had great experiences with O'Hare. For its size, it is just terribly easy to navigate around, find things, etc.
Yes, weather has really pushed Chicago's airport down on my rankings list as well as their persistent delay issue. The nice thing a/b OHare are its amenities and also the fact it houses American and United both.
As for weather, DFW has 7 parallel runways, so it can withstand some storms more so than other airports (Ie. Lambert ST. Louis before it added the 3rd parallel runway).
However, not even DFW is immune from weather either.
Overall, the airport is well laid out for the O/D traveler, and the addition of Skylink has changed the nightmarish experiences people had in the past with the old TrAAin system. This is why JD Power has increased DFW's standing among business travelers since the ease of connections has much improved with Skylink.
DIA reminds me of Atlanta Hartsfield, but better laid out.
Keeps same train system, but does a better job at segregating the two main carriers there so connections are not so bad.
Pittsburgh is like a little DIA, but they lost their hub status with USAir. I personally dislike all this getting on escalators to go first down, then up, etc. I feel like I'm being "herded".
My DD travels out of Chicago to come home from college. She thinks both Chicago airports do a better job of getting people through security quickly than DIA does. Midway is not just an airport for small carriers and private planes any more. It is a major Chicago airport.
DIA sucks. O' Hare, for its size, is remarkably efficient, and extremely clean and modern. If you dont like O' Hare, there is always Midway, also a good alternative. We get that nice option in Chicago.
Hartsfield Jackson is the worst airport you will ever go to in your life. The bag checking is ridiculous. Not to mention, I almost lost a child and most of my stuff in the process.
I guess I was just biased in voting for Dallas since I'm a Texan, lol. Plus, I just think their airport is beautiful. Clean, for the most part. Smooth in working. We practically flew through bag checking. We were even given a ride to our terminal on a baggage car, lol. Everything was just a breeze.
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