New Report Ranks Two DC Area Airports Among The Worst For Layovers In The US

DULLES, VA — Two Washington, D.C. area airports ranked among the worst in the country for layovers, according to a new report from FinanceBuzz.

Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport ranked second and 14th among the worst airports ranked by Finance Buzz, which is an advertising-supported informational website offering tips on how to make financial decisions. Only Chicago's O'Hare International Airport ranked worse than Dulles on the website's list.

To come up with its rankings, FinanceBuzz used Bureau of Transportation Statistics to identify the 50 U.S. airports that had the highest number of domestic travelers in 2020. Then, looking at data on airport size, amenities and performance, it scored each airport on six factors:

• Number of gates
• Availability of restaurants and shops
• Number of airport lounges
• Number of hotels within walking distance
• Percentage of flights delayed longer than 60 mintutes
• Percentage of canceled flights

Dulles Airport scored low in several categories. Only two hotels were located within 2 miles of the airport and it only had 1.5 lounges per its 139 gates.

Although BWI had a lower percentage of lounges (0.7) for its 77 gates, it did have 12 hotels under 2 miles away and had a lower percentage of flights delayed longer than 60 minutes, 2.72 percent compared to Dulles' 2.85 percent.

The airports with the lowest number of points out of 100 made it on FianceBuzz's 15 worst airports for layovers in America list:

1. O'Hare International Airport ORD/Chicago - 23.0
2. Dulles International Airport (IAD)/Washington, D.C. - 34.1
3. Kansas City International Airport (MCI)/Kansas City, Missouri - 34.9
4. Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)/Chicago - 35.2
5. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)/Detroit - 36.0
6. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)/Dallas - 36.5
7. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)/Charlotte, North Carolina - 38.4
8. Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)/Fort Myers, Florida - 40.6
9. Indianapolis International Airport (IND)/Indianapolis - 41.6
10. Orlando International Airport (MCO)/Orlando, Florida - 42.2
11. Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)/Minneapolis - 42.4
12. John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH)/Columbus, Ohio - 42.7
13. Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)/Salt Lake City, Utah - 43.9
14. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)/Baltimore - 44.2
15. LaGuardia Airport (LGA)/New York, New York - 44.4

Here are the 10 airports with the highest scores on FinanceBuzz's rankings:

1. Miami International Airport (MIA)/Miami, Florida - 66.5
2. San Antonio International Airport (SAT)/ San Antonio - 66.4
3. San Diego International Airport (SNA)/ San Diego - 65.1
4. John Wayne Airport (SNA)/Santa Ana, California - 64.0
5. William P. Hobby Airport (Hou)/Houston - 63.9
6. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)/Fort Lauderdale, Florida - 62.9
7. Norman Y Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)/San Jose, California - 62.9
8. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)/Los Angeles - 62.2
9. McCarran International Airport (LAS)/Las Vegas - 60.9
10. Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL)/Honolulu - 60,8

More information about FinanceBuzz's methodology for ranking airport layovers can be found on its website.