SEATAC, Washington β Background music is no longer an afterthought at many airports, which are hiring local musicians and carefully curating playlists to help lighten travelers' moods.
London's Heathrow Airport built a stage to showcase emerging British performers for the first time this past summer. The program was so successful the airport hopes to bring it back in 2025. Nashville International Airport has five stages that host more than 800 performances per year, from country musicians to jazz combos. In the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana International Airport greets passengers with live merengue music.
Roz McCommon sings at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Nov. 26 in SeaTac, Wash.Β
Tiffany Idiart and her two nieces were delighted to hear musicians during a recent layover at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Washington.
"I like it. There's a lot of people here and they can all hear it," said Grace Idiart, 9. "If their flight got delayed or something like that, they could have had a hard day. And so the music could have made them feel better."
Airports also are carefully curating their recorded playlists. Detroit Metro Airport plays Motown hits in a tunnel connecting its terminals. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas has a playlist of local artists compiled by an area radio station. Singapore's Changi Airport commissioned a special piano accompaniment for its giant digital waterfall.
Travelers pass through a concourse Nov. 26 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport as Roz McCommon performs nearby.
Music isn't a new phenomenon in airport terminals. Brian Eno's "Music for Airports," an album released in 1978, helped define the ambient music genre. It's minimalist and designed to calm.
But Barry McPhillips, the head of international creative for Mood Media, which provides music for airports and other public spaces, said technology enables background music to be less generic and more tailored to specific places or times of day.
Mood Media, formerly known as Muzak, develops playlists to appeal to business travelers or families depending on who is in the airport at any given time. It might program calmer music in the security line but something more energizing in the duty-free store.
"We see it as a soundscape," McPhillips said. "We design for all of these moments."
There's a science to Mood Music's decisions on volume, tempo, even whether to play a song in a major key versus a minor one, he said.
"How do we want to affect their mood at that moment?" McPhillips said. "It's not just like, 'Here's a load of songs.' It's a load of songs for that 10-minute segment, and then we move to the next 10 minutes."
At the same time, many airports are going low-tech, hiring local musicians to serenade travelers to give travelers a sense of the place they're passing through.
Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports have more than 100 live performances each year. Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport began a live music program five years ago and now has two stages featuring local artists.
Travelers pass by Roz McCommon as she performs Nov. 26 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in SeaTac, Wash.
Tami Kuiken, the manager of airport music at Seattle-Tacoma, said the airport launched its live music program about a decade ago after a city commissioner heard live music at the airport in Austin.
"The idea was like, 'Man, why doesn't Seattle have music? We're a music city, too," Kuiken said.
At first, the airport created a playlist featuring emerging artists along with famous ones such as Pearl Jam. Then it decided to try live musicians for a 12-week trial. It was so successful the airport now features live musicians daily and is building new performance spaces.
"People's anxiety levels are very high when they're traveling," Kuiken said. "The feedback that we started getting was that once they got through the checkpoint and they were greeted with music, all of a sudden their anxiety and stress levels dropped."
The programs also benefit musicians, who get paid to perform and gain wider exposure. When Colorado Springs Airport announced a live music program in March, more than 150 musicians applied. It now hosts two two-hour performances each week.
David James, a singer and guitarist who plays at SeaTac airport about once a week, said waking up in time for a daytime gig took some adjustment. But he's gained new fans from all over the world.
"I get really sweet responses from people all the time, saying, 'That was so soothing to be able to just sit and listen to music in between flights,'" James said. "So, it feels like it's especially therapeutic for people."
The 10 best airports in the United States
The 10 best airports in the United States
Updated
The holidays are approachingβand with them, some of the busiest days for airport travel. Indeed, over the past three years, Lyft riders have taken 10% more rides to and from airports in the month of November. And, in June 2024, air travel was up 7% from June 2023. If the trend continues, it will be another busy season for airlines ahead, Lyft reports.
As any seasoned traveler knows, airports are not created equalβand they can make the difference between a seamless journey and a harrowing one. So, to help prepare for any travel ahead, Lyft data and public data were used to score the 30 largest airports in the U.S. on 12 measures across four dimensions: convenience, affordability, efficiency, and amenities. Those scores were then combined to find out which U.S. airport soars above the rest. (See methodology section for more details.)
Most Convenient: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS)
Each air journey begins and ends with a ride to and from the airportβand it's not always easy. Because airports require a lot of land, they tend to be located on the outskirts of cities, where they are less connected to public transportation and more vulnerable to traffic. Here are the easiest airports to get to:Β Β
Time by car: On average, passengers spend 26 minutes in a Lyft ride to or from an airport. However, travel to or from Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), located just three miles from the Strip, takes just 16 minutes, on average.
Time by public transit: For those relying on public transit, the airport commute tends to be more of an ordeal, taking 41 minutes on average to reach the city center. But not so in Boston ββthe airport (BOS) offers subway, commuter rail, and bus services, the shortest of which takes about 20 minutes to reach downtown.Β
Average wait for pickup (minutes): On average, customers wait for a rideshare pickup for nine minutes across all airports. However, New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA), where recent renovations were designed with rideshare in mind, has reduced that time to six minutes.Β
Averaging across all three of these standardized measures, the airports of Austin (AUS), Salt Lake City (SLC), and Boston (BOS) all come out on top as the easiest to get to and from.
Most Affordable: Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
Updated
Flying is priceyβand extra expenses at the airport can make it even more so. Here are the top airports based on affordability:Β Β
Parking cost: While the average large U.S. airport charges $60 to leave your car for a long weekend, parking is a steal at Houston's IAH ($27) but also in Texas generally: Parking at both DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) and AUS (Austin) costs under $40.
Cost of a Lyft ride to/from the airport: Rideshare offers a more dependable, convenient, and cheaper option than driving yourself (especially if you schedule your ride in advance). A Lyft ride to the airport costs $39 on averageβand under $22 in LAS (Las Vegas).
Cost of Chex Mix: There's no shortage of complaints about overpriced airport food, but someone finally decided to try to quantify it. An X user crowdsourced the price of an 8.75-ounce bag of Original Chex Mix at airports across the country. The results are not the most rigorousβsome commenters found different prices in the same airportβbut still provide a useful rough guide. While the average cost in this subset of large airports is $8 (twice more than normal), Chex Mix costs a whopping $14 at SEA (Seattle). Meanwhile, SLC (Salt Lake City) and MSP (Minneapolis) seemed to keep prices at more reasonable levels, under $4.
Taking all these measures into consideration (underweighting the Chex Mix), the cheapest airport is SLC in Salt Lake City, followed by CLT in Charlotte and AUS in Austin.
Most Efficient: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW)
Updated
Travel disruptions, including cancellations, delays, missed baggage, and long TSA lines, have plagued travelers over recent years. While the DOT is currently working to hold airlines more accountable, here are the airports that tend to offer the smoothest experiences:
Average TSA wait: There are few places where anxiety is as palpable as in a TSA line, where time-crunched travelers reckon with the possibility of missing their flight. The average wait time from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the subset of large airports is 12 minutes, with a high in Austin (20 minutes) and a low in Detroit (seven minutes).
Share of flights on time: At least one out of every five flights doesn't leave on time, usually because of weather. But some of the airports with the roughest weather see the fewest delays. MSP (St. Paul), located next to one of the snowiest cities in the U.S., and SLC (Salt Lake City), with its 24/7 snow-removal team, both have the highest on-time rates of 84%.
Cancellations: That said, sunny PHX (Phoenix) has the lowest cancellation rateβit cancels roughly half as many flights as the average airport.
Averaging across all three measures, DTW (Detroit) comes out on top as the most efficient airport, followed by SLC (Salt Lake City) and PHX (Phoenix).
Best Amenities: San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Updated
Extra time in the airport doesn't have to be a burdenβwith the right services. Here's a data-driven assessment:
Download speed: Many travelers spend their downtime onlineβtaking work meetings, downloading films, etc. All that activity requires a strong internet connection. According to Ookla, the average download speed for top airports in 2022 was 76 Mbps, but only ten of the top 30 airports in this data setββled by the tech hubs of SFO in San Francisco (162 Mbps) and SEA in Seattle (139 Mbps)ββcleared the 100 Mbps benchmark for handling nearly any online activity.
Restaurants and shops per gate: For travelers experiencing delays or layovers, shopping and eating can provide some much-needed diversion. While most airports average about one shop or restaurant per active gate, the top airport for pre-gate entertainment is EWR (Newark), whose plentiful 1.75 establishments/gate include Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen + Bar (home of the famous trash can nachos).
Google rating: There are a number of other metrics that affect the airport experienceβcharging outlet availability, natural sunlight, cleanlinessβthat are a bit harder to measure. For a holistic proxy, this overview looked at Google ratings. While the average airport earns 4.1 out of five stars, TPA (Tampa) was a standout, with 4.6 stars and reviews citing its "big and easy-to-read" signage, "impeccable" bathrooms, and the flamingo art installation.
Averaged across all of these measures, San Francisco (SFO) ranked highest for amenities, followed by Tampa (TPA) and Washington, D.C. (DCA).
Best Airport Overall: Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
Updated
Considering all four measures, the best airport is SLC in Salt Lake City, Utah.Β Accessible from the city center, featuring a new and spacious design as well as low rates of cancellation, and affordable Chex Mix? What's not to love?
Methodology
Updated
This sample considers the 30 largest airports in the U.S. as of 2023 across the following 12 metrics:
- Average commute by car (minutes) is calculated using Lyft data, as the median length of a Lyft ride that is going to/from an airport from Nov.1, 2023, to Nov. 1, 2024.
- Shortest commute by public transit (minutes) follows the report by Travelers United and uses Google Maps to estimate the time it takes to get from the airport to the city center with public transportation.
- Average wait for pickup (minutes) is calculated using Lyft data, as the median time between when a Lyft ride is requested and a passenger is picked up from an airport from November 1, 2023, to November 1, 2024.
- Cost of parking is the average cost of parking at the airport for a long weekend in 2023, according to Upgraded Points' data study.
- Cost of a Lyft ride to/from the airport is calculated using Lyft data, as the median length of a Lyft ride that is going to/from an airport from November 1, 2023, to November 1, 2024.
- Cost of Chex Mix is calculated using this shared Google spreadsheet from 2024, with data for additional airports drawn from comments on X and TikTok.
- Typical TSA wait (minutes) is estimated using TSAWaitTimes, as the average wait between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., with data collected on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.
- Percentage flights on time is calculated using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, as the average across the share of an airport's arrivals and departures that were on time in 2023.
- Cancellation rate is calculated as the rate of canceled flights for airports in 2023, according to Insuremytrips.com.
- Download speed is the median download speed in Q3 2022, with estimates provided by Speedtest Intelligence. For San Diego we used a proxy of 100 Mbps—the minimum speed that one can easily download and stream movies—as SAN advertises that ability.
- Restaurant and shops per gate is calculated as the number of shops and restaurants for each airport (sourced from airport websites and the 2023 Financebuzz report), divided by the number of active gates at an airport.
- Google reviews is the average number of stars for the airport on Google Maps, collected Nov. 6, 2024.
This story was produced by Lyft and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
