This Is America’s Busiest Airport, and It’s Not Even Close

Transportation

Published: June 29, 2024 2:10 pm

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 Airports face outdated roads leading into and out of airports, antiquated facilities unable to handle larger airplanes, and increased traffic, and some are locked into urban areas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?

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

Charlotte is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and its airport is going through some growing pains.

Metro Area: Charlotte
Passenger Traffic (2022): 47,758,605
Primary Airline(s): American Airlines
IATA Code: CLT

9. Orlando International Airport

Florida | Orlando, Florida, USA Downtown Drone Skyline Aerial — Orlando used to be Florida’s busiest airport but was surpassed by Miami by only 500,000 people in 2022.

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

Miami acts as a hub city for American Airlines and is a major entrance point to Central and South America.

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

Previously known as McCarran International Airport, it was renamed to Harry Reid International Airport in 2021.

Metro Area: Las Vegas
Passenger Traffic (2022): 52,667,741
Primary Airline(s): Allegiant Air
IATA Code: LAS

6. John F. Kennedy International Airport

JFK is the busiest of the three airports in the NYC metro area.

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

The Los Angeles International Airport is often colloquially shortened to its code, “LAX”.

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