Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Flight from UK arrived leaving 2+ hours to make a connecting flight. It was the only plane coming in. About 10 booths for passport check varied between 2-3 in use. Then security. 3 people checking boarding passes for 1st class/priority passengers 1 for the rest. Then 2 of 4-6 lines of scanners open. I missed my flight and sat for 5 extra hours after a 10 hour flight. Pointlessly stupid and uncaring people from immigration and TSA. They should not have jobs or more to the point their supervisor should not have a job. Read the other reviews it is not coincidence.

I would do anything to avoid this airport. In my opinion it is one of the worst in the U.S. The food vendors are inefficient and just don't care. Check in lines are very long and agents don't assist or direct incoming passengers. The TSA areas and agents are crowded and rude. It is poorly organized with an inefficient very off- site rental car site. If you are going to Phoenix you are stuck. If you want to use Phoenix for connections don't.

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Mexico and entered the U.S. in Phoenix. Our arrival just so happened to be at the same time 4 other planes landed from other countries so we were not allowed to depart the plane until customs cleared out the other planes. My wife and I expected to sit on the plane for at least an hour considering how many planes were before us but Customs was able to get us off the plane in less than 30 minutes which was at least in my opinion exemplary. The reason we gave Phoenix Sky Harbor such low ratings is what happened after we cleared customs. We had to go to our next flight which didn't leave for 2 hours. But we once again had to go through security to get to our domestic flight. We stood in line at security for nearly an hour! Because of this combined with the long walk to the other concourse we barely made it to our next flight and weren't able to eat anything for dinner. The security checkpoint was poorly run. The people working the checkpoint weren't pleasant at all. And out of the 6 security lines there only two of them were open! I doubt that there were more than 50 people ahead of us but it still took us an hour to get through the security line. From now on my wife and I will do everything we can to avoid any connecting flights through Phoenix. If you have to change from an international flight to a domestic flight be prepared to take a full 2 hours to get to your domestic flight! I've worked for the federal government all my adult life but even for me the management of the security checkpoints is inept.

Be forewarned: Allow 2-3 hours before your flight departure time to check in at Phoenix SkyHarbor Airport. And do not assume that will leave you with time for such things as catching a bite to eat before you board your plane. Airline check-in goes fairly efficiently but it's the TSA that will slow you down. Expect to wait an hour or more to pass through screening watching as everyone passes through one or two inspection stations while 5 other stations stand empty/closed. Next time I might prefer to drive 16 hours (from Denver) than to fly through Skyharbor.

I would suggest any reviews of dining experiences or facilities written prior to 2013 be modified since Sky Harbor T4 is going through a full restoration/modernization. A total makeover of eateries and services throughout. They are showcasing local favorite restaurants which has added some great choices pre and post security. Cowboy Ciao Humble Pie Four Peaks Brewery Sauce Barrio Cafe to name a few. T2 and T3 have not been given this same makeover but have some decent choices nonetheless. I actually look forward to getting to PHX early to grab a bite to eat and a decent glass of wine. On return they even have a brand new full service Starbucks in the Baggage Claim area. They also have added the light rail running between Economy parking and T4 which is another great improvement. TSA agents are friendly yet professional. I am grateful for my TSA Pre Check status too which allows me to breeze through security with little or no line.

Terminal 4 has several hallways or spurs serving the gates - when our gate was changed to one in a different spur it was a very long walk but they had moving walkways. An employee pushing two wheelchairs at once had to do the same turn-around and didn't use the walkways. The spur that included our new gate had only three food services (the other one had more) all run by the same company with no cooked food except one was making breakfast egg sandwiches. I asked for one without meat and was told it wasn't possible. They seemed to be making them from scratch! I settled for a very good yoghurt parfait but would have preferred something more substantial. Most staff were incredibly helpful but one needed additional training. None of the food services on our spur had a vegetarian sandwich of any kind. We've had easy food choices at many airports and while traveling throughout Arizona for two weeks so Phoenix's attitude seemed very obtuse. Many people have dietary needs or preferences for a variety of reasons. The airport itself is close to downtown Phoenix easy to reach. The free wifi worked fine. The announcements were clear and the restrooms were clean. Check in and security (at 7.30 a.m.) were friendly and well-organized.

Being from Europe I'm very disappointed with Sky Harbor's facilities. I flew PHX-LHR from terminal 4. Firstly the "duty-free section" was very poor. Secondly the lack of eateries really surprised me especially since this were the gates with the international departures. I was forced to head to another section of the airport to get a slice of pizza. There were nowhere to sit and eat. I was lucky though to force myself to a table where it was possible to stand and eat. Finally the store with newspapers candy drinks etc was closed at my terminal (apparently it isn't allowed at this airport to have more than three stores open at the same gates a store clerk told me this). After all these flaws are quite understandable considering Sky Harbor almost exclusively serve domestic flights.

I flew out of this airport while attending college in Phoenix. The airport was easily accessible by bus from campus and the check-in and security lines were almost always quick and efficient. Terminal 4 has an excellent central waiting area (outside security) with seating/shops/food everywhere with an overall very nice atmosphere. Having separate security checkpoints for each section of gates (all the gates are connected behind security) is a very smart feature which cut down on wait times at security considerably.

B Diener's comment [27 September 2010] is incomprehensible in that it twice describes PHX as 'a small airport'. It is actually huge spreading over a large area with long distances to cover in terminals. However it does provide a fairly pleasant experience. T4 has some of those long distances but passing through TSA was almost pleasant. The centralised Rental Car Centre like that at Las Vegas is actually a good idea and the associated shuttles are frequent.

GDL to SFO on US Air and had a short layover of 1 hr 20 mins at Phoenix Sky Harbor. This airport is a nightmare. It is so far from one gate to another that 1 hr 20 mins is not sufficient to make the connection. I missed my connection and had to stay in Phoenix for one night and get a flight the next day. The facilities were very nice; yet the problem was the distances. In the future I will avoid this airport if at all possible.