Bad U.S. Airports

This Is Just How Bad U.S. Airports and Airlines Are Compared to the Rest of the World

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CAILEY RIZZO

When every minute counts, make sure you aren’t flying out of an airport notorious for being late.

Travelers looking for punctuality will be pleased with a Qatar Airways flight out of Doha’s Hamad International Airport, according to the results of a survey from AirHelp, a company that helps passengers receive compensation for delayed and cancelled flights.


The 2018 AirHelp Score survey ranked 72 airlines and 141 airports around the world on their on-time performance, quality of service, time for claims processing, and how passengers spoke of them on Twitter.

According to AirHelp’s data, other top-ranking airlines included Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and South African Airways. Runners up for the best airport included Athens International Airport and Tokyo Haneda International Airport.

U.S. airlines and airports did not perform well in the global survey. The best-performing U.S. airline was American. Only six U.S. airports ranked in the top half of the total 142 airports. Airports on the West Coast tended to perform better, with Seattle-Tacoma Airport and San Francisco International Airport ranking in 34th and 46th places. Newark Airport ranked among the worst 10 percent of airports around the world.


Newark Airport. James Leynse/Getty Images

“It is clear the U.S. is in need of significant improvement, with overbooked flights and cancellations making national headlines month after month, and the consistent mistreatment of U.S. consumers,” Henrik Zillmer, co-founder and CEO of AirHelp, said in a statement. “It is no wonder most U.S.-based airlines and airports received poor ratings on the AirHelp Score. It is more important than ever for consumers to fight for their air passenger rights.”

But U.S. airlines did not rank among the absolute worst in the world. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the lowest-ranked airlines included Air Mauritius, easyJet, Pakistan International Airlines, Royal Jordanian Airlines, and WOW Air.

Correction: American was the best U.S. airline, not United.