This NYC-area airport leads the nation in complaints

New Jersey’s got some terminal complainers.

Newark Liberty International Airport leads the nation with the most complaints related to the Transportation Security Administration, according to a report.

Among the US’ 44 biggest airports, Newark topped the list by a wide margin between 2015 and 2023, according to TSA data analyzed by Upgraded Points, a travel and financial advising company.

With 12.84 complaints per 100,000 passengers in 2023, the Garden State airport had the most grievances of any major airport, eclipsing the national average of 3.92 per 100,000 travelers. 

After Newark, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport fielded 10.35 complaints per 100,000; Palm Beach International Airport saw 8.98; and Southwest Florida International Airport had 8.92 in 2023.

The Big Apple’s two other main airports, JFK International and LaGuardia Airport, also topped the list at sixth and tenth, respectively. 

Newark saw the third-most delays in the country in fiscal year 2023 with 13,000 or more delays behind Las Vegas and LaGuardia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Newark Liberty also saw the third-most cancellations in the same period.

“Airports with more TSA complaints could mean longer delays,” The Upgraded Points study said.

“Knowing an airport’s screening process can help you more effectively plan your trips so you aren’t in a huge rush when you arrive.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and the Dallas Love Field were the three airfields to receive the fewest numbers of complaints, the report found.

Respectively, they reported 3.47, 4.22 and 4.3 complaints per 100,000 passengers last year.

Unsurprisingly, the data shows that complaints are at their lowest beginning in January before slowly rising throughout the year to a peak in December at an average of 1,457 complaints per day during the busy holiday travel season.

“Higher passenger volumes can make an already stressful situation even more tense, almost certainly leading to a worse experience and more complaints being filed,” the study found.

The most common complaint, which accounted for more than 40% of all airport gripes nationally, was about the TSA’s expedited passenger screening program, or TSA PreCheck. 

Mishandling of passenger property and customer service issues were the next most frequent complaints.