The most stressful airports in the country for travelers have been revealed in new study
The study also named the least stressful airports in the country
JimMin
Air travel can be stressful enough as is, but a new study has revealed which airports are the most stressful for travelers across the United States.
Mozio, a ground transportation search and booking platform, analyzed annoyances like flight delays, parking costs and distances from the airport to the city at the 20 busiest airports in the country to work out which is the most stressful.
Coming out on top was Chicago O’Hare International Airport, which received a stress score of 8.42 out of 10.
Over a quarter of flights, or 25.4 percent, leaving O’Hare experience delays, “meaning delays are more likely to be part of the experience,” Mozio notes in the list. Parking your car at O’Hare costs $43 a day — and the drive into the heart of the city takes over an hour.
Chicago isn’t the only big city coming under fire on the list. All three major New York City area airports have taken top spots, too.
The second most stressful airport is New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, located in the borough of Queens.
With a stress score of 7.54 out of 10, LaGuardia stands out amongst other airports for its expensive parking, which can run travelers a whopping $80 a day, according to the Mozio report.
Flights out of LaGuardia are even less reliable than those at O’Hare, with 26.3 percent departing late. Mozio also notes that the trek into Midtown Manhattan can take almost an hour.
Two other hubs in the New York metropolitan area, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport, share the third-place spot. Both were given a stress score of 7.19 out of 10.
While nearly eight out of 10 flights, or 78.3 percent, depart JFK within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, the overall experience remains stressful thanks to massive passenger volumes at the airport, Mozio says.
“Parking costs $70 a day, and the drive to Times Square takes about 56 minutes, which can be even longer in heavy traffic.”
Newark, just over the Hudson River in New Jersey, also has $70 parking. Newark also performs slightly better on-time performance for departing flights, according to Mozio, with some 76.2 percent taking off within 15 minutes of schedule.
The New Jersey airport, however, is less stressful than its New York City alternatives because it takes less time to get to Midtown Manhattan.
Not every flight has to be a nerve-racking experience — and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport takes the prize for being the least stressful busy airport, with a stress score of 1.76.
It reportedly has one of the highest on-time departure rates in the study, with more than 8 in 10 flights, or 81.5 percent, leaving within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time.
Parking is also on the lower end, according to Mozio, at just $30 a day. The drive to reach the Minnesota State Capitol also takes only 20 minutes.
The least stressful airports, according to the study, include:
