Why America's Airports Are Terribly Designed 

The reason airports have crossed runways is for the prevailing winds. Most major airports do this.

As a pilot I do have a couple of notes: 1. Comparing LaGuardia to Singapore is a pretty cherry picked selection. While I haven't been everywhere, I've been to a lot of airports worse than the ones in the US, even worse than LaGuardia. 2. Airport runways intersect to account for changes in wind. Some places are fortunate and have winds that are weaker or almost always blow roughly the same direction. New York is not one of those places. Other American airports like LAX and ATL have several parallel runways. Otherwise, you're right on the money with access to transportation. Though that's a byproduct of the US' larger issue with automobile reliance. Airports in some cities like JFK, DCA, and ORD have public transit access.

Eisenhower wanted to have public transport, specifically trains, go to airports. He also wanted the freeways to go around major cities, not into them. Too bad we didn’t listen to him.

I know these comments very much prove the statement of “Americans won’t like this video”, but it’s because this video really leaves out key information such as the reconstruction of LaGuardia and how these airport actually function. However, these videos are still interesting to watch and every RU-vidr finds false information some point in their career so I get it.

Honestly with the new renovations LaGuardia is by far my favorite airport in NYC. Quicker to get to, less people, typically fast security, cheaper flights. Brand new buildings. It’s great.

Imagine making a 14 minute video about airports and not knowing why runways intersect each other.

The other thing the author doesn’t get is that none of the US airports are designed as hubs for international transfers. US airports serve mostly traffic to/from the US. Singapore is a transfer hub for international connections

The thing is I was at LaGuardia (not "laGardia") a week ago. It's not even bad. Easy to navigate short walking time and fast new security. Pretty nice if you ask me

I don't dislike the video, I just think that it misses some things and doesn't take into account how Americans view airport. If you ask me what is a nice airport Singapore or my hometown airport (DTW) I would say Singapore. Buut, I don't want my airport to become Singapore airport. My airport is a piece of infrastructure and clean, easy for me to get to, easy for me to navigate, and overall just pleasant. I don't want a mall of an airport, I want a simple airport that is easy to use. I think some of the things that are missing are that US airport authorities also often subsidize public transit, economic development, and parkland in the US. Not that this couldn't happen with a privitization model, but public ownership means your incentive is the various stakeholders not just the owners which means they are more likely to subsidize other things. This is especially true in the US where regulations on the private sector are lower than in Europe or Asia where there might be more leeway to regulate these kinds of things. The other thing, and this goes with the my airport vs. Singapore airport. As someone who flies occassionally I don't think flying should be cheap. It's bad for the environment and I don't think that it should be subsidized. That flying is heavily taxed isn't a bad thing in my opinion. And again, as an American airports like Dubai and Singapore seem more like p***ing contests which is fine if you are trying to show off to attract tourists and project an image but lets face it the TSA, immigration and customs are going to ruin tourists image of airports in the US no matter how many waterfalls and how cheap the m&ms.

LGA is a mostly domestic airport with smaller aircraft flying in, Singapore is certainly not, hence the passenger to size discrepancy. Also the point of having multiple runways is not running flights in and out at a higher rate but so that aircraft can land and takeoff into the wind. I'd also argue that retail not being a massive seller in American airports is a good thing I don't want to have to walk through a 20 mile long duty free section like at Heathrow to get to the gates, even at the cost of a few cents if you do want to buy something.

Planes need airspeed, rather than ground speed, so they take off and land INTO the wind --- direction varies, but does not blow from 2 directions at once. Hence, the overlapping of those runways does not matter.

O'Hare and Midway, the two airports in Chicago, both are directly linked to the public transit system by bus and metro, with the metro leading directly to downtown.

Crossed runways because of crosswinds not (just) lousy design

Privatizing US airports is a bad idea, I said that because Puerto Rico, an US colony, privatize its international airport and the airport is in worst shape than when it was state owned.

you need to update your video on Laguardia, It probably the nicest airport in NYC. Now with the new terminals.

Lmfao what??? Comparing LaGuardia to ANY other airport in the world is literally comparing apples to oranges. Chicago O’Hare. Dallas Fort Worth. Miami. LAX. JFK are all incredibly efficient operations. And Biden was referring to the general state of the terminals. Which were actual dog shit. But they’ve been completely demolished and rebuilt. LGA is actually beautiful now.

Privatizing airports in the US would be a mess. Most airports are already dominated by la single airline. Privatization would mean owners would favor an airline and kill competition.

I’ve found a commonality of highly critical, sometimes unjust, observations of OBF when it comes to the US. And the opposite when it comes to Europe. Video topics and observations seem to often be cherry picked to make America appear worse than it is (In my opinion). That being said, I think its done on purpose and OBF is a genius if I’m correct. I don’t know OBF’s main demographic of viewers but I’m willing to bet almost anything, that the bulk of it is American. Now why would you purposefully bash on what is essentially your viewers? Well Americans tend to be very patriotic and outspoken. What does that get you? Engagement! Tons of it at that. People will write their long comments (like yours truly) which will in turn get lengthy replies driving up that engagement and with that, that sweet revenue money. Not hating or anything, just thought I would point out my own observations on the topics chosen, given the title of the video makes me believe I’m spot on. I would like to also point out that criticism is important and good FOR EVERYONE, as long as it’s fair and unbiased.

As an American, frankly I don’t really think U.S. airports are that bad. 1. Airports are one of few remaining essential services here that aren’t privatized. Others, such as healthcare, education, and even jails are at least partially, if not fully privatized, and we’re worse off for it. Why not keep airports public? Yeah, they should be invested in more, put that’s a different issue. 2. 9/11 was a lot more personal for Americans than for Europeans, or Canadians, because it happened here. As a result, air travel has long had a not deserved bad reputation here. It’s gotten better since 9/11, but airlines are still cautious about upsetting passengers unnecessarily. 3. Their lack of access to public transport is a symptom of the problems with public transit in the U.S. as a whole. 4. U.S. airports are the way they are partially because of U.S. culture. When I’ve gone abroad, I’ve found it weird that in many European airports, after security, you have to go though the duty free area. Why? The last thing I care about in an airport is shopping. 5. U.S. airports often follow cultural ideas of efficiency that are absent in many airports in Europe. In many European airports it feels like you can walk for a really long time before you get to the gates. 6. Another thing I like about U.S. airports is the complete lack of remote stands. Unless you’re flying to a small regional airport, rest assured that when you come here, you will always get a jet bridge at your gate. This is really convenient in the winter, especially in the Midwest or Northeast. By contrast, airports in cold northern European countries like Ireland or Germany insist on using air stairs and remote stands even in bad weather. This also makes boarding in U.S. airports more accessible for people with disabilities.

Are you even trying? First of all, crossing runways *can* be used at the same time (land and hold short). Second, crossing runways is not just some arbitrary design choice. Many airports have crossing runways. There is a reason for that. Prevailing winds. CGP Grey made a video about it recently.

As an airline pilot in America, a lot of these reasons are why I moved to Boston. The airport is only 10min from downtown and the city has some of the best public transportation in America!

singapore has a single airport.... for the _whole city-state_, so they can spring for all the bells and whistles on it. NYC area has 3, just for the NY area... see the difference?). also, its a regional airport, not an international one. the governor pulled the plug on the proposed rail linkto go back to the drawring board. it needs a proper MTA or LIRR or other "crossrail" type connection, no doubt. i grew up near EWR and the infrastructure growth and decision making can boggle the mind sometimes. hopefully NewYorkLiberty will get a new reliable rail connection, but im not holding my breath with the PATH extension to the airport stop.... also, it's pronounced (la-GWAR-dee-ahh) :)

By OBF, was nice to hear from you! Congratulation on comparing an airport built in 1939 to one built in 1981, one international, one domestic, one being renovated now and the other one being new. Make the money, go for it kid, you are relevant

Privatisation is what's KILLING Air Canada. I assume you're unaware that they were bailed out so many times, we could have re-nationalized several times over by now.

ATLANTA has a great airport. Though large it is very self explanatory of how get around and even better when you get to know the place like the back of your hand. I’m a frequent flyer and I always plan my trips to where I have to go through Atlanta to get to where I’m going because I love the airport so much. I fly Delta so it makes going through Atlanta a lot more probable on the trips that I go on. For those of you that don’t know Atlanta is the home of Delta Airlines.

Did you know the airport you praised (Changi Airport) is owned by Singapore's Ministry of Finance and is NOT privately owned

Having flown a lot in the US, I can say the most airports are quite good to very good and investment in them is booming. Every major airport has a major renovation going on and in some cities, like SLC, New Orleans, and Kansas City, they are building completely new ones. And I don’t understand why the creator is complaining lease fees for stores is too high and we have $9 bags of M&M’s, and then the next saying airports don’t charge high enough fees. And how about comparing US airports to a region that is similar in age in infrastructure like Europe? I don’t see anyone saying London airports are convenient, cheap with good connections. In fact, some European airports are ridiculously far from city centers and would anybody want to fly to Europe now? Not if you want your checked luggage. European airports are privately owned aren’t any better than their US counterparts. How is that the solution?

I don't think privatization of essential infrastructure is really a good thing.

“Americans won’t like this video...” is definitely right, other comments have covered the issues with this video so I’m not going to bother parroting them Cant help myself with this one tho, crossed runways is a common and important thing that many airports do and need to do because of the winds

I think that the down right privatization of US airports would alleviate some of the most pressing issues, however the system of capitalist expansion at all costs and the profit motive being the primary driver of the betterment of airport experience is somewhat short lived. I think that at some level there needs to be an investment from federal or state governments to improve airport functionality regardless of profit, and that only comes from a collective prioritization of quality travel which of course would be difficult to establish, however in the long term i think it is a more sustainable mechanism for airport improvement over privatization as short term profits in the private sector are top priority. Without robust civic involvement and political enthusiasm, the privatization of airports will only kick the problem down the line. Case and point being the revenue from rental cars and parking, sure it makes lots of money, but at the cost of individual comfort and ease of access.

Did you really just make this whole video without looking up how LaGuardia is pronounced even once?

5:42 That felt a bit personal. Did you had problems with a certain US airport recently xD

Fact check: the combined area of Changi Airport’s 4 terminals is 13.6million sq feet, not 753,500, which per Wikipedia is the area of shops and eateries.

best content, this consumes my time too quickly. Love it, keep it up!

Um....American here...why exactly wouldn't we like this video?? We know airport sucks, most things built for public use and access all suck in the US. We know this! I love your videos, but this video did nothing other than show American's what we already know about the states. I assume the title is clip bait for your other than US audience and/or to troll or something.

i agree there would be benefits to privatizing airports, however the vast majority of major airports in the US started as air bases. additionally, these bases started closing to become airports at the same time as the interstate highway system was being built.

“A lot of people seem to forget to subscribe”. That’s one way of looking at it.

Europe, Asia, Latin America: "No problem, I will take public transport" The US: "We don't do that here"

Pretty poor video in my opinion, despite all of these “shortcomings” the US airports have successfully managed the rebound to travel way better than European ones… not a lot of airports in the US where you have to arrive 4 hours before to make your flight like at AMS

Very good placed and incorporated Ad. Only realized that there was an Ad until it was over and you said thanks for sponsoring this Video.

Great videos man. Keep them coming..

Great video I really enjoyed your explanation. Great job. Thanks

“LaGardia” is under construction and having just flown out of it is one of the best and most modern airports I’ve ever been too.

Why, exactly, are we going to hate this video? We don’t take any great pride in our airports and hate the hassle. Not to mention that you managed to tell the right and left what we want to hear: that our airports should be privatized and should be connected to mass transit.

tbh the original title was more 'interesting'

America has bad transportation infrastructure, due to the fact that a small percentage of funding actually makes it to infrastructure. We could have the most advanced transportation system in the world, but we prefer wealthy politicians.

Because of changes in wind direction it is coming for airport to have runways at different angles while only using one runway at a time. I'm not sure if this is the case at this airport but it could be

I didn't even notice the sponsor starting, nice job!

evil USA be like : good infrastructure projects

May I ask what microphone you use? Really love the sound

Part of the issue is that, in general, US airports are much closer to their city centers than European or Asian airports. That creates far more NIMBY and expense in renovating/rebuilding airports. Moreover, the US has many layers of control over land and policy when compared to other parts of the world. In Singapore, for instance, if the central govt decides the project is happening, it happens. No appeal, no lawsuits.

There was a very weird and annoying beep sound coming from this video, please think about alternatives for background noise/ music on your videos :) great post btw!

I was a part of a goodwill choir in June, 2001. We flew out of Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (or DTW as we locals call it, and is also their call code), landing in Windsor (England) International Airport. We traveled multiple countries by bus, and flew out of Nuremberg Airport, landing back in Detroit. As we were walking down the international hallway coming back into Detroit, there was paint peeling from the wall. My friend knocked off a chunk of the paint by accident and said, "Yep, we're back in the states". Not even a joke. I can only imagine how some of these older airports have aged since the last time I've flied back in 2001.

OBF uploads are the only thing that keeps me going in life.

The la guardia alignment of runways ensures that with wvery wind the airport will work almost normally, wich can make less delays or divergions for crosswinds.

As a Singaporean I'd say that my country can be one of contrasts, where its Changi Airport is an award-winning place to enter the country via air, but if you enter via coach there's a sizable chance that you'd end up at the decrepit Golden Mile Complex/Tower (as many coach companies have their offices there, perhaps a legacy of the 1970s when the Golden Mile area was being planned to capitalize on its proximity to downtown), which also has a greater reputation for sleaze with its sizable number of nightclubs. If you enter the country via rail meanwhile you end up at Woodlands Train Checkpoint which is even further from downtown than Changi Airport; to get to downtown you 1st need a connecting bus to the nearest MRT (subway/metro station), some of which are jam packed, while others sometimes will skip the Checkpoint as that area is just beside a busy border crossing that suffers from congestion. Going back to Changi Airport, the areas where it may not be as good in are more related to its more restrictive regulations I think. For instance, even if you've printed your boarding pass before going to the airport, local aviation laws may still require you to Q at check-in desks to have your travel documents checked. There're also reports of lounge-hoppers being frustrated by security guards banning them from boarding the airside shuttle bus between Terminal 4 & the other terminals as they flight isn't departing from the terminal the bus is heading to. Not sure if its due to Terminal 4 having its common security checkpoint at the entrance to its airside area (immediately behind the departure immigration hall), while other terminals have those checkpoints at each gate instead. On the flip side the airport also has one of the fastest baggage unloading I've ever seen (though they can be delayed by thunderstorms, which are not uncommon here due to the tropical climate)

LAX has been expanding and still in the process of building a tram rail that goes up and around the airport

my local airport, salt lake city international, went with the option to just tear everything down and start from scratch. delta had decided they wanted a better hub, so they built a better hub (they also paid for most of it). i used to hate that airport, now it’s one of the best airports i’ve been to

Don't think you understand how airports work, doesn't matter that if you use one of those you can't use the other one because the reason why one of those would be used being used is because of winds being blown in a different direction than a safe to use that runway on

Kind of missed the boat with the runways thing there angled in a way to allow planes too take off and land into/against head wind to limit crosswinds on takeoff/landing

Scrolling through these comments, it looks like your vid really missed the mark and they saved me from wasting my time lol

The way he snuck in that sponsorship I didn’t even notice until he said back to the video

Did you say the United State's?

Ive learned more about airports from the comments than the video

Since they re-modeled LaGuardia it’s much better

Not every country is perfect. If I want to appoint al the problems in my own country the Netherlands I can make a very long serie.

3:32 you showed the Valencian subway!!😆

That was sneakiest add ever. Honestly good job

American here. I love this video. Fuck airports. Gimme my goddamn HSR.

As an American (traveler and nature lover), I feel like nearly every country has this problem, and America isn't alone. Not all airports in the USA are bad, and you cannot beat the beauty of Denver International Airport. I like Phoenix Sky Harbor airport in its own unique way (lots of hallways and long walks, for sure), but I liked the Denver one more. I have visited Burbank (easier and faster to get to than going to LAX) the most, and that one is always packed, and you will have to walk to the plane from the gate as well as walk out of the plane to the gate.

You definitely shouldn’t look at Berlin’s airport BER.

It may be outdated nowadays, but you would never want to use two runways going in different directions at the same time even if they weren't intersecting.

Sadly, this is what happens when you build to a price point. I know where I work, we have roof leaks as well. They will patch them, but they will not replace the roof until a major event happens and they can use insurance money to do major repairs. It's cheaper for the company to wait until everything falls down than to do simple maintenance. I used to work for a contractor for a power company. Said company knew what power poles were good, which were inadequate, which ones were completely rotted away. None of them would get replaced until it literally fell down. They had insurance to cover failures, but doing maintenance would have cost money.

Sounds like the US could use an infrastructure bill 🤦🏻‍♂️😆

You're right. As someone with relatives from Long Island, I can tell you they're upset by this. It's pronounced "la GWAR dia". Besides that, yeah, airports suck.

I personally like this video and I’m from CA too. I really wish our public transit system was better than it is.

When I went to Asia the airports have big malls, but in the US it’s just a part of the airport

Seemless transition into an ad 👍

No disrespect but it’s pronounced like it’s spelled as “LaGwardia”. The airport has gone through significant renovations. Again, no disrespect.

To touch on the expensive retail prices for airports, when I was in JFK, there was a steak in a restaurant that cost $67!!!

When I was on a layover flight in San Francisco it was notably much better than Frankfurt air port

as an american i cannot tell you how little this surprises me

This guy: I know it might be hard to believe that American Airports suck. Americans: We were well aware before you even said anything.

If they don't have enough gates, they can just do what they do in smaller airports like in The Canary Islands and just use some steps and a bus.

12:55 I don't know about other countries but as I live in canada one thing I am certain on is that airports are not privately owned. Toronto Pearson is owned by transport Canada. A division of the Canadian government. A local airport for me is the waterloo regional airport on the large end of small airports is owned by as the name implies waterloo region. Also fees and taxes for planes landing in canada are significantly higher than the states.

10:12 "The US (airline) industry is subject to a significant number of taxes" Please cover Canada next 😆

9:23 hey, I know that guy and that school!! I was originally in their flight program a year ago! (Had to change majors since I couldn’t medically fly)

New York alone is bigger than Singapore. When you have such little land to worry about it will obviously be easier to manage.

Level of investment. These countries are borrowing the money from the US to enhance their terminals.

Port Authority of NY & NJ are utilizing private public partnerships for their ongoing capital plan. At least 2 terminals at JFK are being leased out to private companies to operate and they’re investing heavily in terminal renovations. Also many major hubs are in the middle of massive capital programs to modernize and expand. The point about debt is valid but it missed the point many of these large airports are flush with cash and operate well above the cost of the debt they issue. Especially after all the federal relief they got in the pandemic. Many large hubs have a way to go but they’ve made a lot of progress in recent years. The real concern is the smaller, regional airports that don’t benefit from the traffic that large hubs get and are lagging behind when it comes to emplanement recovery.

most those airports are having major renovations and some have rebuilt their airports entirely

Europe has some terrible legacy airports too.

US has the most airports (over 10,000 and the oldest) this is an unfair evaluation to the rest of the countries which only have a small amount of ports and the ones mentioned are major international hubs.

Interesting. Always enjoyed PDX

Corrections: All airports in Canada are publicly owned not privatized. Each airport is run by a government owned cooperation called a "crown corporation", however these crown corporations are expected to be self sufficient. The difference between Canadian and US airports is that Canadian airports are both public, yet Self Sufficient AND legally mandated to fund their airports in a way that keeps the airport able to handle current and future passenger loads. As a results, all major airports in Canada have either had brand new terminals built or have gone through major renovations within the last 20 years. The downside is that Canadian travel taxes are amongst the highest in the world. But Canadians have very modern airports and more importantly public ownership of very important resources. I don't think the problem in America is that the airports are public but instead the problem lays with the incentives of the airports not being aligned with the needs of consumers. The Canadian system is not prefect, post-covid Toronto's airport has had a lot of issues handling passenger loads. This is not unique to Canada but is a major problem in many airports around the world currently.

Flew into Dallas and Houston regularly. Good airports. Spacious and lots of places to sit. Security and immigration fast. Not a crowded duty free megamall like European and Asian airports.

European airport also don’t have very much room to expand

i love tha fact that at 8:58 you can see the backround of vilnius in lithuania

72 cents for a $4 bottle of water is not just 72c, but about 1/5 the cost! That is a lot! Also crossing runways are at almost all major airports to allow for shifting winds. Most runways in the us never point directly North/Sout or West/East ... they are mostly all at an angle due the winds. For instance SJC in San Jose they land and take off to the North/West in good weather. In the winter or bad weather, they often land the opposite way to the South/East.

I don't think privatization of US aiports is really the best solution. As an American, I like the idea that our airports are one of the few public services that are still managed by the government (and thus democractically by the people) compared to a privatized airport like LHR. Privatization probably has its advantages, but I am happy with American airports not being money hungry businesses that are only seeking a profit compared to a government provided service that is supposed to be there for everyone.