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When It Comes To Bad Airports, NYC Is #1!
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 19, 2012
Modified Jan 19, 2012
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 19, 2012
Modified Jan 19, 2012
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When it comes to bad airports, New York is number one! At least that's what a story in Frommer's would have us believe. In a list of the ten worst airport terminals in the world, the travel company singled out all three of New York's major airports for consideration. Why? "In large part because they're run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a hideously mismanaged money sink that does a poor job of responding to air travelers' needs."
Frommer's ranks our airports in this order: Newark's Terminal B (#7), LaGuardia's US Airways Terminal (#6) and JFK's Terminal 3 (#1) but takes pains to point out that all of our airports actually suck. Newark is "an awfully dull airport to wait for a flight in," LaGuardia (which nobody seems to like) gets called a nice airport for "a mid-sized city like Kansas City" and JFK? Poor JFK's Terminal 3 is called "the worst single airport terminal in America, and probably in the Western world." And it goes on:
Terminal 3 is known for endless immigration lines in a dank basement, for an utter lack of food and shopping options, three crowded and confusing entry points, hallways that could have been designed by M.C Escher and for vomiting international travelers out onto an underground sidewalk with no cabs available. There's also a sense that the cleaning crew gave up in despair a while ago.
Sigh. We wish we didn't agree. But maybe one of you begs to differ? A Port Authority spokesman did not immediately respond when we asked for comment.
Update: PA spokesperson Ron Marsico responds: “The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has invested significantly with its aviation partners to improve the metropolitan area airports by building new terminals and renovating older ones, making runway and taxiway improvements to help reduce flight delays and adding welcome centers to all terminals to improve customer service. At JFK, for example, we have partnered with Delta on a $1.2 billion expansion of Terminal 4 that will allow replacement of outdated Terminal 3. At Newark Liberty, we are in the midst of a $350 million renovation of Terminal B to make the flow of passengers and baggage more efficient. Additionally, the same survey also ranked Terminal 5 at JFK the world’s fifth best terminal.”
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laguardia airport
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