What to Know
- LAX ranked 27/30 of the busiest U.S. airports.
- The list based criteria off an airports amenities, accessibility and timeliness.
- LAX is in the middle of several major upgrade projects that likely would impact rankings.
Los Angeles International Airport placed near the bottom Thursday of the Best Airports 2018 ranking by the travel website The Points Guy.
The rankings looked at the country's 30 busiest airports.
LAX was listed 27th, just ahead of Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport in New York and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Three categories were examined by The Points Guy to determine the
rankings: amenities, accessibility and timeliness. LAX ranked 7th in amenities, 23rd in accessibility and 28th in timeliness.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport placed at the top of the list
despite not being first in any of the three categories. LAX had the worst
delay rates in the country, according to the rankings, but saw a slight
improvement from its 29th ranking in the 2016 list, the last time TPG ranked the best and worst airports.
“All the airports that beat PHX in the number of amenities they had couldn't overcome other, sometimes (damaging) deficits (especially JFK, San Francisco and LAX),” the Points Guy said in a release about the list. “Taken together, PHX arguably won not necessarily by coming in first anywhere, but by not having any crippling flaws.”
TPG, which offers travel tips and reviews, said it looked at “objective, verifiable data” from a number of sources to compile the list, including the Department of Transportation, third-party databases such as ExpertFlyer and the airports themselves, using data for the entire year of 2017 to address issues of seasonality and weather at several airports.
LAX is in the middle of several major upgrade projects that likely
would impact rankings such as TPG's, including a $2 billion addition to the Tom Bradley International Terminal and the $5.5 billion Landside Access Modernization Program.
That will include a Consolidated Rent-A-Car Center aimed at bringing
together more than 20 car rental offices and feature a 2.25-mile Automated People Mover to eliminate the need for rental car courtesy vehicles to enter
the central terminal area and reduce the number of autos driving in and out of the airport by an estimated 3,200 each day.
