Zagat rates airports + airlines; LAX not so good
So, you think you have a bad airport? Well you do. LAX slipped down another notch on the Zagat/”Today” Show Airline Survey to third-worst airport in the United States. Tampa International Airport was the best and New York La Guardia held the spot for the absolute worst airport (of 27) in the U.S. To say that the airline industry is having some turbulence is an understatement. Los Angeles Times staff writer Jane Engle summarized the results for us in “We hate to fly, and it shows.”
If you want to read all the nitty-gritty details of who is cool and who is not in the airline industry — you can find the full Zagat/”Today” Show Airline Survey results here. But I’ll give you a hint … if you’re flying with Virgin America, Midwest, Continental and JetBlue you have something to smile about.
Zagat’s Top U.S. Economy Airlines:
Midwest Airlines
Virgin America
JetBlue Airways
Frontier Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
17 Comments on “Zagat rates airports + airlines; LAX not so good”
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November 26th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Since 9/11, I’ve flown in and out of LAX, Newark, JFK, La Guardia, Houston, Chicago, John Wayne, Long Beach, Phoenix, and Gatwick. The only surprise in this report? That La Guardia is worse than LAX. There is absolutely no excuse for the poor management of security processes and lines. I haven’t been anywhere that has taken me as long to check in and get through security as LAX. It’s disgraceful in a city that aspires to world-class status.
November 26th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Your LAX experience will vary greatly depending on the airline you choose. As a United passenger, I laud LAX as one of the easiest airports to get in and out of. There are many choices in how to get through security, luggage service is among the fastest of any domestic airport, fly into Boston Logan sometime or Washington Dulles if you doubt that and enjoy the additional 20 minute wait for your checked bag.
Given the age of many of the facilitiies at LAX and the volume of passengers run there, it is an amazingly efficient airport. The one black mark against would have to be the lack of restrictions on parking lot, rental car and hotel shuttles which often clog up the upper and lower roadway. The number of companies allowed to operate on airport property should be limited to about half of what it currently is, or they should start going in together on joint shuttles, but otherwise as a UAL passenger, LAX is just fine. I would not want to be a Southwest, US Air or AA passenger however.
November 26th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
“luggage service is among the fastest of any domestic airport”
What!!?? You have to be kidding me. LAX’s luggage service is terrible, including when flying United. I have never waited less than 20 minutes for bags and it regularly is closer to 40 minutes. United does a nice job of checking people in and getting them through security (especially if you are fortunate enough to have frequent flier status for the special security line), but luggage service at LAX is atroucious.
November 26th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I agree that LAX, for the most part, is efficiently run considering its size and layout. I think JFK has the worst luggage retrieval service; it takes forever to get your bag!
November 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Getting out of LAX on United is good; on a return flight, don’t check bags - as Chris says, it’s pretty awful. I’ve never had it take less than 30 minutes, and I fly 3-4x/month through there. I’m a status flier on UA and I wouldn’t use LAX all the time if I weren’t - it makes a huge difference. I’ve been pleased with security lines and check in times but I see the lines for others. Given time schedules and where I live, LAX makes the most sense. I’ve been delayed so many times out of BUR that I just can’t trust their flight schedules, and ONT you can’t get to.
November 26th, 2007 at 10:50 pm
as soon as i type the following, i will be jinxed. at any rate, maybe it’s the airline i choose (united) and the way i travel (one carry-on plus my laptop). usually, i’d check in online and print out my boarding pass before i get to the airport. sometimes, i’d check in at the kiosk. usually, i’d arrive at the airport 45-60 minutes before departure. i have absolutely NO complaint about LAX. the one trip that bordered on annoyance had to do with bad weather in dallas, tx, which precluded any flight destined to DFW from taking off from the originating airport. the delay was excruciating but no one was to blame. i travel once every 4th/5th week. in the past year, i’ve logged time in montreal, new orleans, dallas, mexico city, cancun, st. thomas, tampa, atlanta, and miami, to name a few. the most annoying airport was mexico city.
my LAX experience actually is pretty fair.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:25 am
I totally agree with the other Kate - check-in and security at LAX is dreadful. I’m from the UK and my Dad lives in LA and we visit twice a year. The last time I had the ‘pleasure’ of being at LAX was in September. We had to wait for nearly 2 hours to check-in and the major problem with the international part of LAX is lack of facilities. If you have family with you there is only a really small Starbucks where you can go and sit and that is actually in the arrivals part. There are resturants but you only get to them once you get through security and head through to the boarding area…..if you have family they can’t go with you. At Heathrow you can at least check-in and go and get something to eat, grab a coffee and shop with friends/families before you go through security.
November 27th, 2007 at 3:00 am
Kate, I find it embarassing that post-911 you’d complain about security at an airport. I’d place a wager that families and friends of those lost would do anything to have the security we have now back then.
It’s really no big deal to arrive an hour early if it means improved security to avoid another tragedy.
I invite you to join me for one day in Afghanistan. Then we’ll see if you still want to complain about security in an airport.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:17 am
I am delighted to read the comments of many fellow travellers that LAX is better than what some recent surveys have shown.
LAX has made efforts to shorten the security lines by adding more TSA agents, adding screening lanes and providing plastic bags for passengers to use for their toiletries. LAX is adding new concessions to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. There are already a number of good eating establishments there.
Too often, LAX expansion supporters like to misuse these surveys and seize upon a dirty restroom as a reason to move the north runway into Westchester/Playa del Rey. If a restroom is dirty, then clean it! And keep it clean. Expanding LAX will never resolve the day-to-day maintenance of keeping LAX clean.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:22 am
LAX is an embarrassment. I’ve been to better airports in third world countries.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Jamie, my point isn’t that security is tighter. I have no issue with more effective security. But security at LAX isn’t better than at other airports–it’s just monumentally slower. And I’m arriving at least 90 minutes ahead of flight time, as recommended by pretty much everyone. You seem to be reading things into my comment that just aren’t there.
November 27th, 2007 at 9:57 am
LAX is the ugliest airport with some of the most rude, unprofessional employees I have ever encountered
November 27th, 2007 at 10:33 am
LAX is a joke. I avoid it at all costs these days and would prefer to fly out of Ontario or John Wayne Airport. The facilities, restaurants and stores are sub par. Check in and security usually takes two hours most days. How come I don’t experience the same at other airports in large cities such as DC, Baltimore or Miami??? The Green Line rail system that was built nearby can only deliver airport bound riders to a bus depot where you have to take a bus transfer to get to LAX. Imagine the amount of traffic LA would have avoided had they only built a rail connection to the LAX???
November 27th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I fly LAX weekly and I object to someone who comes here twice a year having any say about whether or not it is a good airport. That is far too small a sample size to make a determination. I suppose I should fly through London and if it rained that day make derisive comments about the crappy English weather. I would know better than to assume that one or two days represent the whole year.
Again, anyone who says LAX baggage is bad has not been elsewhere in the country, including John Wayne, where the baggage service is exponentially worse. I have never had a bag take more than 15-20 minutes at the United LAX terminals. It is superb. Dulles, Logan, John Wayne, JFK all take 45 minutes, sometimes an hour. Unbelieveable.
The LAX experience is greatly improved if you are a loyal customer to your chosen airline and achieve elite status, so I will concede that this does give me a somewhat biased viewpoint as I never wait in the regular lines, and my bags always come out first, but even when picking up guests with no status as I do a half dozen or so times a year , the luggage service is pretty good.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Daniel, by the same token, I might say that I object to someone who has special line privileges having any say about whether the process is too slow. I don’t fly every week, but I fly at least a couple of times a year–and until recently, at least once a month. I think the issue is consistency. If someone consistently has the same problem, then the problem does exist–it seems unlikely that they are flying on the only two bad days of a year, for example, unless they only fly on days around holidays. Then, of course, the increased passenger volume would suggest that one would find delays in any airport. And it’s not as though luggage retrieval is the only issue.
November 27th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
I think what no one has taken into account here is the size of LAX. In 2006, it was supposedly the WORLD’S fifth busiest airport in terms of passenger traffIc, yet one can walk from terminal to terminal. Compare that to ATL, JFK, ORD, DFW, etc. Yes, some employees are rude and it’s not the prettiest airport, but it’s amazing how such a small airport can handle so many passengers.
November 27th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Oh, and I know it’s not a US-airport, but I have got to say the WORST airport has got to be Heathrow! Now that place is a nightmare!