{"id":581,"date":"2014-11-18T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T09:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flights.waveinteractive.com\/?p=581"},"modified":"2014-12-15T22:43:20","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T22:43:20","slug":"the-10-most-crowded-airports-on-santas-naughty-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/the-10-most-crowded-airports-on-santas-naughty-list\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Most Crowded Airports on Santa\u2019s Naughty List"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most wonderful time of the year can often be overshadowed by hellish airport experiences. Sure, you\u2019re excited to bundle up in festively colored scarves and carefully tuck homemade pastries into your carry-on, but you didn\u2019t think about how busy the airport would be. Or consider the terrible moods of your fellow travelers\u2014hello people, it\u2019s the holiday season, it\u2019s OK to smile!<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, dear reader, because this holiday season you can still get home to eat your Gram-Gram\u2019s meals while also managing to avoid the airport hubbub. We\u2019ve put together a list of the airports you should steer clear of, in the hopes that you\u2019ll enjoy smooth sailing. Worst case scenario: You can always try to hitch a ride with the fat guy rocking a red suit! Ho-ho-ho!<\/p>\n

1. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/Prayitno\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/hELWpR<\/p><\/div>\n

Sure, you might run into a Kardashian or two (which will be oh so Instagramable). However, it\u2019s more likely you\u2019ll get stuck behind 537 other impatient people trying to get through security. The combination of the holiday season and LAX is more emotionally draining than watching David Hasselhoff try to stay relevant.<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 66,667,619<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 5,769,893<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Long Beach Airport (LGB), 20 miles south of LAX<\/p>\n

2. Chicago O\u2019Hare International Airport (ORD)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribtuion: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/N i c o l a\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/bo6Xm6<\/p><\/div>\n

The Windy City is known for its iconic deep dish pizza, but did you know that 26% of its flights get delayed? (Source: Travel + Leisure, November 2014)<\/em> Even extra cheese can\u2019t excuse those setbacks\u2014wait, did you say mozzarella, parmesan, and<\/em> Asiago?<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 67,087,921<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 5,419,597<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Quad City International Airport (MLI), 165 miles west of ORD<\/p>\n

3. Hartsfield\u2013Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/redlegsfan21\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/bJ2RJt<\/p><\/div>\n

What were you expecting? It is the busiest airport in the world after all. If you do end up at the ATL, find somewhere to order a sweet tea and try to channel some Southern hospitality, instead of dreaming about ways to strangle the guy next to you who won\u2019t stop coughing.<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 94,431,224<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 7,856,295<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM), 148 miles west of ATL.<\/p>\n

4. LaGuardia Airport (LGA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/Patrick Nouhailler\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/dAY3qe<\/p><\/div>\n

New York: Concrete jungle where dreams and fluorescent lights are made of, there\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t do! Just kidding, there are plenty of things you can\u2019t do at LGA, including getting home on time to see your cousin Marge. Even a bagel with lox won\u2019t help quell your travel woes.<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 26,722,183<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 2,339,735<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), 46 miles east of LGA<\/p>\n

5. Logan International Airport (BOS)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/EandJsFilmCrew\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/7fuBfZ<\/p><\/div>\n

You definitely won\u2019t have a wicked good time here in December, chucklehead. Sure, there will be lovable freckle-faced people running around talking about how great the Celtics are, but you can catch similar commentary on SportsCenter away from the masses.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 30,218,631<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 2,345,162<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Norwood Memorial Airport (OWD), 27 miles southwest of BOS<\/p>\n

6. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/Chris\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/9VUMHY<\/p><\/div>\n

You\u2019re planning on avoiding SEATAC, black trench coats and grunge music be damned! Well, you might pack your angst-supplies just in case\u2026who knows when you need to wear a Nirvana shirt. It will totally go with your mom\u2019s \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d theme.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 34,776,666<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 2,904,005<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Bellingham International Airport (BLI), 108 miles north of SEA<\/p>\n

7. Denver International Airport (DEN)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/a><\/span>\"w25-7-Denver<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, this city has legalized marijuana and allowed us to watch Peyton Manning wear orange each fall, but does that mean we\u2019re obliged to travel there with four million strangers? We think not.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 52,556,359<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 4,516,315<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Colorado Springs Airport (COS), 98 miles south of DEN<\/p>\n

8. San Francisco International Airport (SFO)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/Joey Parsons\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/61bANJ<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s really busy during the holidays, yo\u2014Google it! You might not be a mastermind responsible for a tech empire, but you can still demonstrate a little common sense. Avoid SFO and figure out a way to organize a carpool; Bay Area folk are all about hippie-dippie ways to save the planet.<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 45,011,764<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 3,819,276<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Oakland International Airport (OAK), 30 miles east of SFO<\/p>\n

9. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution:Flickr\/Creative Commons\/inazakira\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/913dAg<\/p><\/div>\n

Do you think Obama braves DCA? Pfft! He has a private jet for a reason, you know.<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 20,415,085<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 1,628,993<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Newport News\/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF), 163 miles southeast of DCA<\/p>\n

10. Dallas\/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/span>\"Photo<\/a><\/span>

Photo attribution: Flickr\/Creative Commons\/David\/Via\/https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/5e8N9V<\/p><\/div>\n

You can take the girl out of Texas, but\u2026wait, you can\u2019t get out of Texas. Your flight\u2019s delayed and you have to listen to people who put too much faith in barbecue sauce when they cook (there are other seasonings, y\u2019all).<\/p>\n

Annual number of passengers: 60,436,739<\/p>\n

Number of passengers in December: 4,817,320<\/p>\n

Alternative airport: Waco Regional Airport (ACT), 113 miles south of DFW<\/p>\n

*The numbers of passengers cited are statistics from the 2013 travel year, sourced from the website of each airport.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most wonderful time of the year can often be overshadowed by hellish airport experiences. Sure, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[122,90,123,34,52],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581\/revisions\/850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flights.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}