The worst part of my New York Auto Show experience was that I had to fly home to Texas out of Newark Liberty International Airport, which our own New Jerseyite Tavarish says is a great place “if you like being treated like a child with an abusive drunk dad.” Sounds about right!
Newark was number 10 on our list of worst airports in the world back in 2013. I believe it. Besides the general sense of disorganization, everyone from the TSA agents to the gate staff always seemed to be screaming at passengers.
The lines are awful. You have to take buses to the different terminals. The air conditioning wasn’t working. I spent $30 on a burger and a beer at a restaurant where you order with iPads so the staff doesn’t have to talk to you. The WiFi was dead. (Fuck you, Boingo Wireless.) I didn’t get back to Austin until almost 3 a.m. thanks to delays, and while that wasn’t the airport’s fault, it didn’t exactly add to its charm.
Newark is a horrible, deeply broken place, but it’s hardly the worst airport in the world. You fine readers came up with 10 of them last time. Can you come up with 10 different ones?
I bet you can. I have faith in you. More than that, I have faith in how horrible airports can really be.
Photo credit AP
Contact the author at patrick@jalopnik.com.