Living: TIME'S Guide to Airports: Jet Lag on the Ground

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In the Age of Steam, city railroad stations in the U.S. developed as the natural complement to the trains they served. They were convenient, spacious and well planned—temples to progress. In the Jet Age, by contrast, many airports are monuments of muddle, rapacity and discomfort. Despite $1.2 billion in federal aid to U.S. airports in the past ten years, the gap between ground technology and flight technology is vast, and apparently widening.

Though it takes only one-third the time today to fly between major cities that it did in 1948, it takes twice as long to get from city to airport. Once arrived, passengers must be prepared to wait too long and walk too far in overcrowded terminals. Airports are heavily supported by concessions, from eating facilities to shops, and these are at best inordinately priced, at worst incredibly bad. Worst served are the elderly, the infirm and families with small children.

To help prepare air travelers for their ordeal on the ground, TIME, with the aid of correspondents around the world, has compiled the following rating guide,* taking into account such matters as accessibility and services, though not safety. Following are our assessments of the ten busiest U.S. airports (in order of busyness), four in Europe and six in the Far East:

The top ten (U.S.)

O'HARE. World's busiest: 41.7 million passengers last year. Averages 1,968 landings and takeoffs daily. Thirteen runways, 26 scheduled airlines. Delays of 30 min. or more: 9,318. Accessibility: fair. Allow 25 to 50 min. for 20-mile ride downtown by car or cab ($12). Buses ($3.50) go downtown every 15 min. (daytime), sporadically at night. Buses also serve suburban areas every one or two hours (daytime). Eight commuter airlines, charter helicopter service to Midway Airport and Meigs Field. Parking: easy. New close-in facility with 9,200 spaces. Flow Through: smooth. Sidewalk checkin. Insufficient baggage carts. Three terminals linked by five underground pedestrian tunnels (two longest have 255-ft. moving sidewalks), also by shuttle buses. Longest walk between entrance and plane: 1,800 ft. Baggage checkout: fast. Hotels/Motels: sufficient. At least twelve hotels within 10 min. of airport, the O'Hare Hilton reached by moving sidewalk. Amenities: ordinary. Comfortable boarding lounges. Adequate snack bars and coffee shops, some open 24 hr. Best restaurant: Seven Continents and good eating at O'Hare Hilton. Ten bars, closing at midnight, cocktail lounges at 1 a.m., beer available 24 hr. in the cafeteria. Shopping facilities: minimal, but excellent boutiques at O'Hare Hilton and International Tower hotels. Two barbershops. Two first-aid stations, one open 24 hr. Overall: huge, well organized.