The remote work model has become the norm for millions of workers across the country. Every day, Americans travel with their laptops at the ready, squeezing in a few hours of work whenever and wherever they have some downtime. Of course, some airports are more welcoming to remote workers than others, and the savvy traveler (and employee) will benefit from knowing which airports to use. With that in mind, Upgraded Points’ conducted a recent study to analyze “The Best Airports in the U.S. For Remote Workers.”¹
“Even though the travel industry has been more accommodating to remote work for a while now, the flood of new remote workers is forcing airports to reconsider how they address this need on a daily basis,” said Alex Miller, Founder, Upgraded Points. “Most remote workers have learned to be agile, setting up their stations wherever they can. That’s why we were curious to see which airports are really laying out the red carpet for remote work, and which airports are still falling short.”
Best/Worst Airports For Remote Workers
So which airports are the best for working remotely?
San Diego International Airport (SAN) comes out on top with a high score of 42.06/50. Among other perks for remote workers, SAN has the most shops per square mile and the most Starbucks per square mile. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) claimed second place (41.24); with Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in third overall (40.36), which also boasted the most charging stations per square mile (36.05). With long downtimes and thousands of passengers vying for a workspace, most remote workers stake out a place to sit and work as soon as they can, and DCA ensures they have the best chance to charge up.
Other airports stood out for notable working perks:
- LaGuardia Airport (LGA) has the most restaurants per square mile.
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) has the most airport lounges per square mile (4.36), giving travelers more places to sit down, open their laptops, and soak up the free Wi-Fi.
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) has the fastest WIFI download speed (185.86 Mbps).
- Philadelphia (PHL) has the most restrooms, at 36.90.
- Tampa International Airport (TPA) has the highest customer satisfaction rating
- Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is the least crowded (3,487,100 enplanements).
Looking for all stats on a particular airport? Check out the complete results, along with detailed ranking factors and graphics and an interactive table of all 45 airports featured.
¹ Remote Work Airline Study Methodology: Upgraded Points analyzed 45 of the largest U.S. airport hubs on 12 ranking factors, including the mean Wi-Fi download speeds, number of restaurants per square mile, number of Starbucks per square mile, number of airport lounges per square mile, number of restrooms/charging stations, along with detailed percentages of on-time departures, delayed departures, canceled departures, customer satisfaction, and number of overall enplanements. Data was manually pulled from individual airport websites, as well as sources like the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Each factor was assigned a weighted score of zero to 10, with a score of 10 representing the most favorable conditions. Each score was then added up, with a total possible score of 50.
