The U.S. is home to some of the world’s busiest airports, with tens of millions of passengers passing through annually. Air travel numbers are returning to their 2019 peak, with the Sunday after 2023’s Thanksgiving seeing a record breaking 2.9 million passengers screened by the TSA — 10% more than the Sunday after Thanksgiving the year prior. This burst of travelers will provide the ultimate test for networks.
In this report, we look at how heavy mobile network traffic at the five busiest U.S. airports can affect our users’ experience throughout the day — using reduction in average download speed as an indicator of congestion. Additionally, we compare the resilience of the three national mobile network operators (MNOs) — Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T — and rank their performance for key performance metrics.
Key Findings:
- Busier periods in the afternoon/evening see airport average download speeds dropping by more than 35%. Los Angeles International airport has the least congested mobile networks throughout the day, while average download speeds at Hartsfield-Jackson drop by half around midday.
- Speeds fall further on T-Mobile’s network. Comparing the average download speeds across all airports during the most and least congested periods, T-Mobile’s speeds drop by 29%. Verizon’s and AT&T’s scores decrease by 17% and 14%, respectively.
- T-Mobile is unchallenged for 5G Availability. Across all five airports, T-Mobile is a clear leader for 5G Availability, topping all five leaderboards uncontested.
- T-Mobile is fastest in the majority of airports. Out of the five airports in this report, T-Mobile provides the fastest experience at four — Hartsfield-Jackson, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles — AT&T tops the charts at O’Hare.
- All three operators take home an outright win for Consistent Quality. Verizon in Hartsfield-Jackson, T-Mobile in Dallas and AT&T in O’Hare.
Average download speeds are a good indicator of congestion on mobile networks. Periods of increased traffic can severely impact speeds, causing frustration for users relying on a fast mobile connection for entertainment while waiting for a plane. We have looked at the average download speeds throughout the day in the five busiest U.S. airports — sorting the readings into three hour buckets. We also look at the reduction in speeds averaged over these five airports, reported as ‘All airports’.
In all but Hartsfield-Jackson, the quietest and therefore least congested period was 3-6 a.m., with Hartsfield-Jackson registering its quickest download speeds from midnight to 3 a.m. This is what would be expected, fewer flights are scheduled and fewer passengers pass through the airports at these hours. Conversely, the most congested period changes slightly from airport to airport. Hartsfield-Jackson and Los Angeles (LAX) have their slowest period just after midday, Dallas and Denver from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., while O’Hare experiences the slowest download speeds in the 6-9 p.m. time window. The average download speed during the three hour periods with the most congestion dropped by over 35% when aggregated across all airports, with LAX staying the most resilient, never dropping by more than 30% — the U.S.’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson sees the biggest slowdown, over 50%.
Congestion not only varies from airport to airport but also from operator to operator. When we take the average download speed during the less congested late-night to early morning hours (12-9 a.m.) and compare it to the speeds observed in the busier afternoon and evening periods (12-9 p.m.), we can see how speeds decline across all three MNOs at the five airports.
Spectrum decisions and infrastructure heavily influence networks’ resilience. AT&T has deployed its 5G mmWave spectrum at O’Hare, and the results are clear. AT&T sees no decrease in speed throughout the day and scores highest for Download Speed Experience, the only airport in this report where an MNO other than T-Mobile wins. T-Mobile achieves these relatively high average download speeds due to its users spending a large proportion of their time on its 5G network.
While our users most often have the fastest average download speeds on T-Mobile’s network, T-Mobile sees the largest decline in speeds due to congestion. It has a decline across all airports of just under 30%, while Verizon’s and AT&T’s declines are more modest, 16.8% and 13.8%, respectively. This larger relative decline in speed during peak hours brings T-Mobile’s average download speeds statistically level with Verizon’s when averaged across all airports — although T-Mobile is still faster at peak hours in LAX and Dallas. T-Mobile is least affected by congestion in LAX, AT&T in O’Hare and Verizon’s speeds drop the least in Denver International airport.
Individual airport mobile network experience
Download speeds are a great indicator of how networks handle congestion and their resilience to increased traffic. However, they don’t provide the full story. User experience depends on more than just speed — maintaining a stable network connection is even more critical. We analyzed user experience across a range of metrics at the five busiest airports in the U.S., (in descending order from most to least busy) to show a more complete picture of user experience on each operator.
At Hartsfield-Jackson, T-Mobile is in the lead for both Download Speed Experience and 5G Availability. For both metrics, there is a wide margin between T-Mobile and the next closest operator — over 25Mbps for Download Speed Experience and 38 percentage points for 5G Availability. The best overall Availability is shared between AT&T and T-Mobile, with our users on both networks spending over 92% of their time with a 4G or 5G connection.
The best experience streaming on-demand video is with Verizon, it wins with a three-point lead on a 100-point scale. Verizon also has the most consistent experience, placing first for Consistent Quality, a metric which quantifies how often users’ experience on a network is sufficient to support various more demanding common applications.
T-Mobile steals the show somewhat in Texas’ largest airport. The operator’s average download speeds are triple those of its competitors — 91.1Mbps to Verizon’s and AT&T’s 28.4-31.7Mbps. T-Mobile is quite a distance out in front for 5G Availability, scoring 4.7 times higher than its rivals. Additionally, it is the outright winner for Consistent Quality and Video Experience, being the only operator with a Video Experience in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport that rates as Good (58-68). T-Mobile also shares the winners’ podium for Availability with AT&T.
Denver International airport has fierce competition between the operators. While T-Mobile is a leader for all five examined metrics, it shares Video Experience and Consistent Quality with Verizon. T-Mobile dominates 5G Availability with its score of 62.2% and is 24Mbps ahead of Verizon for Download Speed Experience. All three operators are joint first for Availability, due to statistically tying with one another. As with the other analyzed airports, Availability is low relative to the national average — around 92% in Denver International compared to 98.7-99.5% nationally. Congestion caused by high volumes of people trying to connect, coupled with poor signal in locations due to thick interior walls and difficult floor plans results in more instances of users left without a signal.
Aside from Download Speed Experience and 5G Availability, LAX is another close contest between operators. All three operators score highly for Video Experience, sharing the top-spot and placing in the Good (58-68) category. Similarly, all three operators are statistically level for Availability. AT&T and Verizon share the glory for Consistent Quality, the pair scoring over 76%.
Out of the analyzed airports, LAX has the highest Download Speed Experience score on any operator, 135.8Mbps on T-Mobile. This is around double the speeds seen on AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile is comfortably in first place for 5G Availability, although second-placed Verizon achieves its highest score in this group of airports, 17%.
Chicago’s O’Hare International airport is the only one out of the five airports analyzed where T-Mobile is dethroned for download speed, with AT&T instead taking the crown. AT&T’s score is boosted by its mmWave 5G deployments at this airport. It isn’t only speed that AT&T excels at in O’Hare — the operator also provides the most consistent experience, five percentage points above Verizon and T-Mobile. Additionally, AT&T shares first place for Availability with T-Mobile, shares the winners’ podium for Video Experience with both other operators and achieves its highest score for 5G Availability, 17.9%. However, T-Mobile is still the frontrunner for 5G Availability, leading AT&T by 39 percentage points.
T-Mobile gained an early advantage in 5G at U.S. airports due to delays in Verizon’s and AT&T’s C-band spectrum deployment, caused by concerns about aircraft interference. Both carriers agreed to hold off or limit their 5G rollouts until July 2023. According to an earlier Opensignal report, both operators experienced an increase in 5G download speeds at airports after this date, and we can expect steady improvement in the future for both MNOs.
T-Mobile’s head start, coupled with its use of lower-band 5G spectrum gives it a clear lead for 5G Availability, with our 5G users spending at least half of their time with an active 5G connection on T-Mobile’s network across these five airports. These results echo what is seen nationally. A high proportion of time spent with a 5G connection means that users can make use of the faster 5G download speeds, boosting their average download speeds, as is reflected in this report, with T-Mobile winning in all but O’Hare. AT&T’s high average download speed in O’Hare highlights how spectrum and infrastructure decisions can drastically change the user experience, with its mmWave deployment improving its performance measurably. The relatively small footprint of airports make them an ideal location for this short-range technology.
To learn about the experience of our American users at a national level, please read our most recent mobile network experience report. And why not stay up-to-date with all the Opensignal insights and articles by signing up to our newsletter?
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