Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport finished last among the 50 largest U.S. airports for how easy it is to pick up an arriving passenger, according to a new analysis from travel site Upgraded Points.
The Austin-based company scored airports out of 100 using nine factors, including congestion, waiting options, parking costs, on-time arrivals, taxi-in time after landing, pickup layout, how separated rideshares are from private cars, and distance from the city center. DFW scored 34.1. Dallas Love Field ranked seventh with a 75.4.
Upgraded Points said DFW’s cell phone lots sit an average of 2.16 miles from the terminals. Arriving flights ran 20.8 minutes late on average in the data used for the study, and planes then spent another 13.8 minutes taxiing to the gate. The airport also received the lowest score for separating rideshare vehicles from other pickup traffic. The study placed DFW about 23 miles from a combined Dallas-Fort Worth city center.
The company said DFW does offer designated cell phone lots and relatively inexpensive short-term parking, but those pluses did not offset the distances and ground times. CultureMap Dallas, citing the study, also pointed to construction and shifting traffic patterns in recent years as extra friction for drivers.
Love Field scored well as a smaller airport with quicker ground movement. San Antonio International ranked fourth nationally with a 79.5, according to Upgraded Points. Houston Hobby placed 18th, Austin-Bergstrom 30th and George Bush Intercontinental 33rd.
John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, topped the list at 85. San José and Oakland took second and third. California airports claimed the top three spots.
The ranking measures the curb-to-car pickup experience, not overall airport quality. DFW remains one of the world’s busiest hubs and has ranked well in other traveler surveys, including J.D. Power’s mega-airport category.
No official response from DFW Airport was posted on its main social channels at the time of this report.
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