Which Houston Airport is the “Best”? Let’s Compare Bush and Hobby

THis answer is in one word.

Until the $2.6 billion modernization of George Bush Intercontinental Airport is completed, abandoned, or otherwise resolved, this question remains unfair.

Even worse than the construction work at Bush is inconvenient and disruptive, it seems endless: What used to be a 15-minute circuit for a pickup truck sometimes takes more than twice that long. Staring at the brake lights with someone waiting at the terminal is how irritation turns to despair.

The construction and closed lanes have caused the drop-off and pickup lines at different terminals to merge. Drop-off lines are filling up with vehicles, and tired attendants are flushing them with water, creating a conflict situation involving whistles and angry drivers.

So how can William P. Hobby not emerge victorious from the runway confrontation?

But if you exclude the renovation, Houston’s two airports are a dynamic duo. They’re truly a team, complementary parts of a sprawling community. Together, they move nearly 60 million people around the world each year. And neither airport made Frommers’ 2022 list of the 10 worst airports in the United States or this year’s list of the 10 best for most delays, which is no small feat.

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Today, Bush is arguably the larger of the two airlines, with 27 passenger airlines to Hobby’s six. Bush handles about 43 million passengers a year to Hobby’s 14.5 million.

Bush will definitely help you get to more places.

It has five terminals with more than 130 gates, compared to Hobby Airport’s two terminals and 30 gates. (But then again, dropping off or picking up a passenger at Bush these days is a great way to see if anger management classes work.)

The city and the airport grew, as cities and airports do.

The city’s first municipal terminal opened nearly 100 years ago at Carter Field. In 1937, it became Houston Municipal Airport. In 1938, it was renamed Howard Hughes Municipal Airport, after the man who loved airplanes and hated Houston and once called our city a “foul swamp.” (But naming an airport after a living person would cost federal funds, so it wasn’t renamed Howard Hughes Municipal Airport until a few months later.)

In the mid-1950s, Houston Airport (not Howard Hughes) expanded to include flights to Central America and Europe. It spent about a decade as Houston International Airport before being renamed William P. Hobby Airport in 1967, named after the 27th governor of the state of Texas, who was also for a time the owner and publisher of the Beaumont Enterprise.

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Plans for a second airport began in the late 1950s. Houston Intercontinental Airport opened in 1969 with two terminals. It has continued to strive to keep up with the city’s expansion ever since. In 1997, it was renamed in honor of the 41st president of the United States.

Let’s imagine a world where the Bush Airport upgrades are completed so we can analyze the pros and cons of both airports.

Additionally, Hobby is three times closer to downtown. But given the urban sprawl and Hobby’s proximity to the 610/45 interchange, that’s only a half-point in its favor, with Bush getting a half-point because there’s a Sonic drive-in on Little York toward the Southwest Freeway.

If you’re traveling to far-flung destinations, Bush is your best starting point. But if you’re loyal to Southwest, Hobby is the winner.

Bush Airport also gets good points for its public art. The airport is considered the world’s most inefficient art gallery, with more than 135 public works spread throughout its terminals. Most of the works are by local or regional artists like the Art Guys, David Adickes and Sharon Kopriva.

Music lovers may be particularly interested in Gate A17’s “Country Music.” Singer, songwriter and artist Terry Allen made a bronze cast of a 25-foot oak tree in 1999. Those who walk past the work trigger a sound element. “Country Music” unfolds when it touches the ground with a composite terrazzo world map.

And the center of this world – as Allen presents it – is Houston.