The busiest airports in the United States play a significant role in the world’s connections and commerce. The busiest airports offer a wide selection of flights to many destinations, as well as passenger services, interesting and unique features to entertain travelers while they wait. While the high traffic can lead to many negative side-effects like flight delays, it can also lead to improved and advanced facilities because of better funding.
The airports on the list have become the busiest airports in the country for a number of reasons, including their location and capacity. Of course, airports in large cities move up the list of busiest airports because they are conveniently located for a higher number of people. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is centrally located just a two-hour drive away from much the population of the southeastern United States.
Chicago O’Hare was for many years the busiest airport in the United States, but since it was also an early airport, its traffic has increased faster than its facilities were able to grow. While the airport can handle many flights each day, federal regulations have required O’Hare to restrict its traffic because of issues with capacity. The airport’s runways and other facilities are unable to safely keep up with the demand, so these federal regulations have caused O’Hare to slip from the top spot. Denver’s airport, on the other hand, is not located in a densely populated area, but the airport has moved up in the rankings for busiest airport in recent years. As one of the most recently built airports, Denver International was well planned to allow for high traffic levels and for potential future expansions. This factor has helped bump Denver International up to the fifth spot on the list, and could push it even higher in the future.
Airports nearer to the East Coast make great hubs for international flights leaving the United States for Europe, and airports along the West Coast are good hubs for f lights to Hawaii, Asia and Oceania. Airports located centrally in the United States make for inexpensive locations with larger land areas for airport expansions, bringing in some major airlines to open hubs at these locations, in turn increasing traffic.
The other busiest airports in the United States, which could overtake some of the airports on this top ten list in the near future, include several along the Atlantic Coast. Charlotte/Douglass International Airport in North Carolina places just a small number of passengers behind the tenth place sport (Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport). Charlotte was one of the biggest gainers on the list in the past decade. Miami and Orlando follow just behind Charlotte, then Newark Liberty International, Detroit Airport, and then the Twin Cities’ airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International. Each of these airports has a significant opportunity to break into the top ten busiest airports in the United States.