Looking for an airport that operates efficiently? Better not look at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Or Midway International Airport either. At least not right now.
That's the unfortunate takeaway from the just-released 2014 ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Report, compiled by a team of international aviation academics at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business.
Each year the team examines data related to both the operational and management efficiency of some 200 airports in North America, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific and ranks them accordingly.
In the large North American airports category, which includes both O'Hare and Midway, the latest ATRS study found that O'Hare ranked fourth from the bottom among 30 large airports analyzed . Only Reagan National, Los Angeles International and Dulles International ranked lower this year. Midway ranked right in the middle of the group in 15th place.
The top three North American airports in terms of efficiency were Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (which has topped the list for 11 years running), followed by Charlotte Douglas International Airport and Minneapolis/St. Paul International.
The team that conducts the annual study has found several factors that distinguish efficient airports from those that are less so. Noted Sauder School of Business professor Tae Oum, who led the study: "Our report finds that the highly efficient airports are more likely to generate a large share of total revenues from concession and other retail activities in terminal buildings, as well as parking, office rentals and real estate development on airport lands. We can also see that airports that outsource terminal services, ground handling and other services also achieve high efficiency."
The Atlanta airport generated 65 percent of its total revenue from non-aviation activities, while the average for North American airports was about 50 percent.
O'Hare's ranking could begin to improve, however, as the Chicago Department of Aviation has added to — and upgraded — concessions at the airport. A remodeled International Terminal 5 with considerably expanded concessions opened this past spring at O'Hare.
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