In theory, you go on vacation to relax.
But plenty of things are good in theory and less so in practice. So while your actual vacation destination and activities might be relaxing, getting to where you want to go can often be an exercise in frustration and aggravation.
Don’t Miss: Longest Airline Flight Is Now This Many Hours
The reasons for our airport malcontent include rude and sometime aggressive customers, delays and
cancellations, and the high levels of airport congestion they bring.
But which airlines make us the angriest? To find out, Forbes analyzed more than 37,000 tweets directed at the 60 busiest airports in the U.S. from March 2022 to March 2023, and then used a machine learning tool to analyze the feeling of each tweet and determine where travelers were most aggravated.
Here’s what they found:
- John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, displeased its travelers more than any other major airport, as the analysis discovered that nearly two-thirds (65%) of the tweets aimed at John Wayne Airport could be characterized as “angry.” The most common tweets about the airport used terms like “noise,” “staff, “TSA,” “complaints” and “delayed.”
- In contrast, travelers tweet screamed in a lower percentage at neighboring airports Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) (55%) and Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) (54%).
- What Forbes terms “the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,” is the sixth most anger-inducing big airport in the country according to Twitter.
- It's not all bad news: Indianapolis, Seattle-Tacoma and Kansas City were the least angry-inducing airports based on Twitter activity.
The Ten Angriest Airports in America
Here's the airports that have the "honor" of making the list of the ten most anger-inducing airports in America.
- John Wayne Airport Orange County CA: 65% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Noise, Staff, TSA, Complaints, Delayed2
- Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville FL: 60% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Line, TSA, Garage, Delays, Employees
- Eppley Airfield Omaha, NE: 59% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were Delays, Weather, Cold, Police, Issues
- Tampa International Airport Tampa, FL: 57% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Bags, Delayed, Luggage, Security, Canceled
- San Antonio International Airport San Antonio TX: 57% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: TSA, Weapon, Officers, Firearm, Broken
- Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Atlanta, GA: 56% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Delays, Traffic, Line, Security, Parking
- San Diego International Airport San Diego, CA: 56% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Waiting, Security, Line, Rental, Canceled
- Nashville International Airport Nashville TN: 56% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Traffic, Police, Waiting, Passengers, Security
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Phoenix, AZ 56% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Rental, Line, Waiting, Bags, Delayed
- Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport San Jose, CA: 56% of tweets about the airline were negative, and common words were: Help, Security, International, Waiting, Parking