Report: Phoenix, Salt Lake City top airports for holiday travel

By Zachery Schmidt
The Center Square

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport rank as the nation’s top two airports for smooth travel during the holiday season, a new report says.

Travel by Luxe released a study earlier this month ranking the top 30 airports in America for the easiest holiday travel.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport took the No. 1 spot on the list. Salt Lake City was No. 2.

The Phoenix airport has the fastest security wait times of two minutes, according to the report.

Monica Hernandez, a public information officer for the airport, told The Center Square by email that the Phoenix facility maintains “regular, ongoing communication with the Transportation Security Administration [TSA] to help them staff appropriately.”

She added that the airport works with “TSA on technology improvements and line management strategies, including programs like PHX Reserve, which allows passengers to reserve a place in line up to six days ahead of their trip.”

The Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport had the third-lowest cancellation rate among these airports at 0.31% and the fourth-lowest flight delay rate at 18.98%, the report noted.

According to the report, Phoenix’s airport had the 11th-lowest average airplane fare at $379.86.

Last December, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport handled nearly 2.3 million passengers, ranking 20th for volume on the list, the report said.

However, Hernandez told The Center Square that the actual number was 4.7 million passengers last December. For all of 2024, the airport saw 52.3 million passengers, she added.

To deal with the holiday travel occurring this season, the airport staff meets “regularly to review passenger volumes,” which lets the airport “strategically deploy resources where they will have the greatest impact,” the public information officer noted.

“We also work closely with our business partners to identify areas where the airport can support their operations during peak travel periods,” she added.

Going forward, Hernandez said Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is “to improve existing infrastructure, like the new Terminal 3 North Concourse and crossfield Taxiway Uniform, and to add new capacity, such as a planned west terminal.”

The airport has “identified desired infrastructure improvements, such as adjusting the airport’s roadways to improve traffic flow,” she added.

In April, Arizona’s largest airport announced it was undertaking a $356 million construction project to expand its Terminal 3, The Center Square reported. Hernandez said the construction for the project is 15% complete.

For Salt Lake International Airport, the report found it had the lowest delay time of any airport at 17.15% and the lowest cancellation rate at 0.25%.

Heidi Harward, the airport’s operations manager, told The Center Square in a phone interview that “good planning, coordination and communication” between the airport’s airline partners helps “mitigate issues before they arise.”

Harward added that the airport also works closely with the Transportation Security Administration to communicate during peak travel times.

In the report, Salt Lake International Airport had a security wait time of 14 minutes, ranking 13th in that category.

The airport is streamlining security processing by coordinating with the TSA to ensure they have sufficient staffing,” Harward said.

The airport uses family lanes, which allow big families to enter a dedicated lane to get through security, Harward noted, adding that this makes the process smoother for those families and other travelers.

The airport is part of a new pre-check program called Touchless Identification Solution, Harward said.

This program allows people to be processed quickly by using facial recognition technology instead of having to pull out their identification and boarding pass, she explained.

Harward said the airport has one of these machines, but it plans to eventually get another one.

According to the report, the airport handled 1.1 million passengers and had average fares of $453.66, ranking 27th.

To accommodate more travelers and workers, the airport is building a new parking lot, Harward noted.

Besides Salt Lake City and Phoenix, others that rounded out the report’s top five were Washington Dulles International Airport, Tampa International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.