The Fourth Of July holiday is traditionally the peak of summer travel. Ahead of the holiday, TSA has already experienced a record-breaking screening day, 3 million passengers in 24 hours on June 23. They expect 32 million individuals to pass through between June 27 and July 8. “The traveling public is on the move, which is a sign of a healthy economy,” says TSA Administrator David Pekoske. Travelers will likely break the June record soon, as the TSA is projecting over 3 million on Friday, June 28.
2024 continues to follow the travel trends of 2023; Americans are vacationing despite inflation, flight delays, and international unrest. According to a Forbes survey, 92% of travelers expect to travel at least as much in 2024 as they did in the prior year. Worldwide, 4.96 billion people are expected to utilize air travel in 2024, yet another record high. Despite flight delays receiving frequent mentions in the news, airlines remain a reliable form of travel for many. Statistics from March 2024 show that 78.7% of flights were on time, 5.99% were delayed due to air carriers, 7.65% were delayed due to aircraft arriving late, and 5.98% were delayed because of the National Aviation System. These numbers speak to the idea that, for the most part, air travel IS reliable, or at least about 78.7% of the time.
Congestion continues to be a problem at many airports, and investment in US airport infrastructure is lagging behind the times. The FAA predicts that by 2040, passenger traffic will have increased 158% since 2019. No two airports are the same. They are built at different moments in time; they are able to maintain traffic initially that increases past their capacity later. They have different layouts. Airlines create hubs in certain places and, therefore, have more availability in one airport over another. Some have had the chance to complete expansions, others are in desperate need of them. Airports face outdated roads leading into and out of airports, antiquated facilities unable to handle larger airplanes, and increased traffic, and some are locked into urban areas with nowhere to expand to.
Today, we’re looking at some of the most congested airports in the United States, specifically how crowded they are. To compile this list, 24/7 Wall St. used data from the FAA, as posted on Wikipedia. The data represents the total number of passengers during 2022. Let’s get started.
Why Are We Discussing American Airports?
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North American airports remain some of the busiest and handle more aircraft movement than any other airports worldwide. Some of the airports in the US rank among the top 20 worldwide and probably fall into the most congested list below.
Let’s look at the top ten congested US airports.
10. Charlotte Douglas International Airport
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- Metro Area: Charlotte
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 47,758,605
- Primary Airline(s): American Airlines
- IATA Code: CLT
9. Orlando International Airport
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- Metro Area: Orlando
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 50,178,499
- Primary Airline(s): Silver Airway, Avelo Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest, and Spirit
- IATA Code: MCO
9. Miami International Airport
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- Metro Area: Miami
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 50,684,396
- Primary Airline(s): American Airlines, World Atlantic Airlines
- IATA Code: MIA
7. Harry Reid International Airport
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- Metro Area: Las Vegas
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 52,667,741
- Primary Airline(s): Allegiant Air
- IATA Code: LAS
6. John F. Kennedy International Airport
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- Metro Area: New York
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 55,175,249
- Primary Airline(s): JetBlue, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines
- IATA Code: JFK
5. Los Angeles International Airport
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- Metro Area: Los Angeles
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 65,924,298
- Primary Airline(s): American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines
- IATA Code: LAX
4. O’Hare International Airport
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- Metro Area: Chicago
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 68,340,619
- Primary Airline(s): American Airlines, United Airlines
- IATA Code: ORD
3. Denver International Airport
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- Metro Area: Denver
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 69,286,461
- Primary Airline(s): Frontier, United Airlines
- IATA Code: DEN
2. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
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- Metro Area: Dallas-Fort Worth
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 73,362,946
- Primary Airline(s): American Airlines
- IATA Code: DFW
1. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
- Metro Area: Atlanta
- Passenger Traffic (2022): 93,699,630
- Primary Airline(s): Delta Air Lines, Frontier, Southwest
- IATA Code: ATL
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