Pilots’ Favorite and Least Favorite Airports

They often use slightly different metrics than passengers to rate facilities.

Thursday, July 11, 2024 at 04:02 PM ET

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Pilots are interested in which airports are busiest, where the arrivals are easiest, and which air traffic controllers generally do the best work. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

Pilots evaluate airports based on distinct criteria compared to passengers, prioritizing operational factors like ease of arrival, air traffic control efficiency, airport complexity, and the scenery/challenge of approaches.
Favorite airports often combine uniquely scenic or challenging approaches (e.g., Innsbruck, London City) with operational efficiency, smaller size, or convenient access to city amenities.
Least favorite airports are typically characterized by congestion, outdated infrastructure, challenging operational conditions, long taxi times, or extreme difficulty and high workload (e.g., LaGuardia, Chicago O'Hare, Paro).

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Each year, organizations like SkyTrax publish awards that include the best and worst airports around the world. These generally focus on items such as passenger comfort, amenities, concessions, security wait times, and other passenger-focused metrics.

Pilots also have favorite and least favorite airports, but for different reasons. In addition to wondering who has the best scenery and food, crewmembers are interested in which airports are busiest, where the arrivals are easiest, and which air traffic controllers generally do the best work. Also included are the scenery of approaches, airport complexity, and workload throughout each turn.

John McDermott

John McDermott is a student at Northwestern University. He is also a student pilot with hopes of flying for the airlines. A self-proclaimed ""avgeek,"" John will rave about aviation at length to whoever will listen, and he is keen to call out any airplane he sees, whether or not anyone around him cares about flying at all. John previously worked as a Journalist and Editor-In-Chief at Aeronautics Online Aviation News and Media. In his spare time, John enjoys running, photography, and watching planes approach Chicago O'Hare from over Lake Michigan.