From Health magazine
If you’re traveling over the holidays, chances are you’re not looking forward to spending time in a crowded, stressful airport. Faced with the prospect of long waits, deafening public-address systems, and indigestion, you may quickly lose that festive feeling.
Still, airports are not all bad. In fact, based on research Health has done to find America’s healthiest airports, some are actually working hard to make your traveling experience healthier by offering nutritious food, special relaxation zones, walking paths, the latest safety technology, and a whole lot more.
We scored the nation’s major airports (see how we ranked ‘em), and then asked a panel of expert judges to help us choose the top 10. Congratulations to the winners. And to those airports that failed to make our list: Please shape up!
Next: No. 1: Phoenix Sky Harbor International
Comments (31)
Phoenix is spelled incorrectly.
Guess you have not been to Indianapolis International lately.
New, Beautiful and no doubt healthly!
Is there a comlete list of all airports that were surveyed and how they all scored?
Thanks.
Yesterday ABC channel 15 out of Phoenix had a report about Sky Habour has black mold in ice machines, dirty soft drink machines and rodent droppings is some resturants. Maybe it shouldn’t be the top of the list.
What is the significance of a healthy airport anyway. Seems kinda silly. Rarely do we have a choice, anyway and most travellers are focused on the bottom line: cost of ticket + expenses. No one chooses an airport based on healthiness.
Jeff has a good point. Also, what parameters were used to judge the healthfulness of an airport? Obviously, ice machines, soft drink machines, etc were not checked. The whole thing does not sound very scientific.
Whoever designed the road system at Sky Harbor was drunk!
Colorado’s clean indoor air law went into effect over 2 years ago, prohibiting smoking in bars, restaurants, casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys office buildings, public buildings and airports. Yet Denver’s largest public building - Denver International Airport - still has four exclusively contracted bars and restaurants where smoking is permitted indoors.
While Denver is the 5th busiest airport in the nation, 8 of the top 10 U.S. airports are smoke-free indoors, and 22 of North America’s top 30 busiest airports are 100% smoke-free indoors. Indeed, a total of 133 U.S. airports are completely smoke-free indoors, yet DIA is not.
How healthy, progressive, and green is that?
Smaller airports with great ambiance: Charlotte NC and Columbia SC. Rocking Chairs in the concourses, live music - dixieland bands or jazz, easy navigation to gates, clean and pleasant. Helps to reduce travel stress!
Stay tuned…America’s Sexiest Airport Worker!
Phoenix, SERIOUSLY….That airport is a mess. Stress free, when at 2AM? It’s chocked with car exhaust, and has mediocre food at best. Phoenix….do you all live there?
i agree with most of the other Screeners who cares which Airports play soft Music. I thought that Screeners were here to make sure the Passengers were safe.
Phoenix hardly deserves the top spot. I can speak from personal experience that those in charge of the airport stubbornly refused, in the face of overwhelming health evidence and a city ordinance, to make the airport smoke free. They were all brain dead, impervious to logic. Meanwhile, millions of captive travelers had to inhale the poison of tobacco smoke, for years. It took a statewide ballot initiative to finally jam clean air down the throats of the knuckleheads who run that place. Sky Harbor is healthier now, but no thanks to those who operate it.
Omaha, NE airport definetly deserves to be abouve phoenix
Omaha, NE airport deserves to be way above any of those airports
O’Hare seriously? I do not agree at all especially the availablity and chooses of good food. Also the airport is completely outdated. But Detroit I totally agree with as it took a long time for the airport to be where it is today. In fact I think it should be higher on your list.
Obviously, the “healthy” criteria is not scientific nor even ethical. PCRM is an animal rights group and their agenda is to promote a vegan diet. Given their primary goal, it seems logical their evaluation on airports only pertains to vegetarian choices, not overall quality or nutritional value.
Please conduct your own research on PCRM. They should never be the sole consultant on matters of nutrition.
I work for the airlines and spend time at a lot of time at different airports and I find an article like this interesting and helpful when choosing where to eat.
This is a joke, isn’t it? Ontario Airport is much healthier for those that work there and those that travel through it far more than many on the list.
Well I don’t know about healthy because I try not to eat at airports (expensive) BUT it does have clean restroom and the museum is what prompted my article on ehow for how to keep busy at an airport. There are several things to do at PHX. I think there are some improvements they could make but then so could all airports use a little more helps.
Ontario is in Canada.
He means Ontario, California.
Where is Phoenix misspelled?
I’ve been to Denver. To big - I was not impressed.
As someone that flies out and in of BWI every week and travels all over the US, I’d definitely agree with BWI placing second. BWI has greatly improved it’s commercial businesses and with the addition of the new Southwest teriminal and state of the art screening machines for Southwest, it’s greatly improved the aiport. Also, driving in and out is a breeze and the new lighting and addition of road lanes at the Arrivals and Departures makes driving there a breeze. However, Terminal D with its long a.m. lines at times is a bit archaic and needs improving. I don’t agree with O’Hare’s placing though at all. Detroit should be placed higher for sure.
No surprise Louis Armstrong International didn’t make these folks’ list. At the Audubon Zoo there’s a recipe next to each animal’s description! We like our food; lots of it available at MSY. And, the airport is not that clean.
So tell us where the unhealthy airports are so we can stay healthy by avoiding them (if possible).
Ed went through school doing large amounts of drugs. He flunked spelling.
Hey, anyone have change for a $1.00?
Oh thank goodness, now I don’t mind paying sky high prices for the crappy product put out by the airline industry. Let’s give them a bonus bailout and a big giant hug! Screw them! If any of our jobs put out a product like the airlines, we’d be out of business inside of a week. Wake up, America. Time to start driving and put this racket out of business.
What about Tampa international (TIA)? Did the judges even come here? The new Southwest terminal (airside “C”), the layout of the airport (electric trams take you to the airsides), new resturants ect make TIA almost always the #1 airport amoung business travlers & vacationers.
Ed’s an idiot. Phoenix is not spelled incorrectly