Grounded

For many, air travel is a necessary evil.

Some of my consulting colleagues and competitors have accumulated more frequent flier miles over the years than Air Force One. When the baggage handlers and airport taxi drivers call you by name you know that you perhaps spend more time in the air than on the ground.

And part and parcel of being a cloud warrior so to speak are nightmarish travel experiences that all you can do is laugh about it afterwards.

You’ve no doubt heard about planes sitting on the runway for up to 8 hours, or weather cancellations that have hundreds of weary travelers using the floor as their lodging for the evening.

I personally have intimate sleeping knowledge of the uncomfortable carpeting in both the Chicago and Detroit airports, while a weather delay in New York once transformed a routine flight to Tucson, Arizona, into a 14-hour, 4-airport odyssey.

And I consider myself one of the lucky ones. 

The other day I read an article with the catchy headline “U.S. Airports to Avoid at All Costs.”

Naturally it piqued my curiosity and being from New York I wanted to see if any of our trio of international air strips made the list. The reasons the airports were cited in the piece varied – from glacial security lines, to rude TSA agents, to a lack of edible food outlets.

And I was not at all surprised to see that all three New York-area airports found their way on there  – JFK, LaGuardia and Newark-Liberty (yes, I realize Newark is in New Jersey but that’s fodder for a future column).

The Big Apple was in good company however.

Both Chicago airports – O’Hare and Midway were included as was Hartsfield in Atlanta. Speaking from experience I can safely vouch that all three deserved their respective dubious rankings.

There were however some surprises -like McCarran in Las Vegas (which I’ve used perhaps 50 or more times and never once had a problem), Orlando (far too many strollers in the security line for my taste), Philadelphia, Dulles in Virginia, Los Angeles, Seattle-Tacoma and Kansas City.

No doubt many of you have an accompanying story to each selection.

These days thankfully, most of my travel is confined to the Tri-State area and New England where my options range from commuter rail, Amtrak or a rental car.

Of course that will change when my wife and I visit London next spring.

I don’t think Amtrak quite goes there yet.