The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) screening process is a notorious headache and pain point for travelers nationwide, but not all airports are created equal.
Travel site Increased Points To determine the 10 worst airports for security processes in the U.S., the TSA examined complaint data from airline passengers at 44 major airports across the country. To determine its final rankings, the agency compared the total number of customer complaints at a given airport to the location’s annual passenger numbers from 2015 to 2023.
The U.S. airport with the most customer complaints is Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, with 6.83 complaints per 100,000 passengers. For some perspective, Increased Points It was determined that the average number of complaints per 100 thousand passengers was 3.92.
Florida came in second, third and fourth, just behind Jersey. Palm Beach International Airport came in second with 5.78 complaints per 100,000 passengers; Orlando International Airport came in third with 5.6; and Fort Myers' Southwest Florida International Airport scored 5.5.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport ranked fifth with a score of 5.38, but it was Florida that looked particularly bad from the study. Tampa International (4.68); Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (4.28); and Miami International (3.85) ranked eighth, 15th and 22nd, respectively. Florida took six places at the top of the table overall.
The news outlet notes that several of these airports have significantly higher complaint rates in 2023. Newark International leads the rankings with 12.84 complaints per 100,000 passengers, followed by Cleveland Hopkins (10.35), Palm Beach (8.98) and Southwest Florida (8.92).
Increased Points It also revealed the major U.S. airports with the lowest number of complaints. At the top of the list was Charlotte Douglas International Airport, with a surprisingly low score of 1.97. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was next at 2.63. Salt Lake City International Airport (2.74) and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (2.8) came in third and fifth, respectively. Somewhat surprisingly, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, one of the country’s largest and busiest airports, came in fourth, with a very low customer complaint rate of 2.75 per 100,000 passengers.
At the end of the day, “airports with more complaints about TSA can mean longer delays.” Increased Points “Knowing an airport’s screening process can help you plan your trips more effectively so you’re not in a huge rush when you arrive.”
You can check Increased Points' There's a whole study here.