Best and Worst Airports to Make a Connection - People, Not Flights

Have you been looking for love in all the wrong places? Bet you never thought of an airport as a hotbed of potential dating activity. But someone did, and AXE, a company known for its men’s grooming products, worked with Sperling's BestPlaces to study the largest metropolitan airports in the US for their possibilities of a connection - not of flights - but of people and shared their results.

When I was sent the list of best and worst airports for “Making a Connection”, I immediately thought that it was definitely a different take on airports, and passing the time there. Plus, why not make it a little bit of fun? I have to commend them on a creative approach to meeting new people. Jet-lagged, unshaven, perhaps a bit anxious - perfect time to meet someone new...

According to AXE, these are the Best Airports for “Making a Connection”:

• 1. Philadelphia
• 2. Newark
• 3. John F. Kennedy
• 4. Washington Dulles
• 5. LaGuardia
• 6. Port Columbus
• 7. Detroit Metropolitan
• 8. Boston Logan
• 9. Dallas/Ft. Worth
• 10. San Francisco

And no love luck for AXE’s worst airports for “Making A Connection”:

• 1. Oakland
• 2. San Jose
• 3. Las Vegas - McCarran
• 4. Orlando
• 5. Los Angeles - LAX
• 6. Phoenix Sky Harbor
• 7. Chicago Midway
• 8. Tampa
• 9. Sacramento
• 10. Houston Hobby

Philadelphia International was selected as the best airport for making a connection because of long and frequent flight delays, coupled with 16 bars, 7 lounges and 57 restaurants. So wait time plus bars and restaurants = possibilities to meet other passengers. In this study, a good on-time record makes for poor chances at hooking up.

And the contender that came in last was Oakland International which was marked down for having too few amenities for passengers.

Hooking up at the airport is not that uncommon. AXE commissioned a survey of more than 860 respondents, and found that nearly one in ten adults has either personally gone out with, or knows someone who has dated someone they met at the airport or during a flight. Yes, sometimes love is in the air.

How did they come up with the list?
“AXE's Best and Worst Airports to Make a Connection” looked at 37 airports serving the 30 largest metro areas in the United States. It looked at amenities such as the number of bars and restaurants, to the number of connecting, delayed and missed flights, among other elements.