Most travelers already know some airports feel bigger than others.
Some terminals seem to go on forever, while others can get you from the front door to your gate in just a few minutes.
But a new ranking of America’s longest and shortest airport walks raised a different question entirely: how did some of these distances change so dramatically in just two years?
In 2024, we wrote about the Longest & Shortest Airport Walks in the U.S.. The list was brought to you by Kuru Footwear, a U.S.-based shoe store that’s been around for more than a decade.
At the time, I thought that either Salt Lake City Int’l Airport, which was in the midst of massive renovations that caused them to joke about its long walks (they’ve since been completed) or Orlando Int’l Airport would be on the list for the longest, but they sure showed me!
But it’s two years later, and the criteria are slightly different, which means one of my “chosen” airports DID make the list this year, LOL!
2024’s criteria vs. this year’s
This is how Kuru determined the longest and shortest airport walks in 2024:
To find this data, the team at KURU Footwear first measured the top 10 largest and smallest airports by land area in the US. We then analyzed airport maps and Google Maps to determine the length of the journey from each terminal to the nearest and farthest gates.
We also surveyed 800 Americans in February 2024 to learn more about their air travel habits and experiences. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3% and a confidence level of 95%.
They changed the rules a little bit for what “counted” to make the 2026 list:
To put this ranking together, the team at KURU Footwear started by identifying the 10 largest and 10 smallest airports in the US based on land area. From there, we measured the walking distance from each airport’s main entrance to its farthest gate using Google Maps. When available, we also referenced interactive maps provided on official airport websites to help verify routes.
To keep the results focused on airports that serve a broad range of travelers, we narrowed the list down to the five longest and five shortest airport walks. We only included airports located within 60 miles of a major metropolitan area, which means smaller regional and rural airports were left out of the final rankings.
Longest walks
Anyway, here are the 2026 airports with the longest walks, as per Kuru:
- Dallas/Fort Worth Int’l Airport (DFW) – 1.50 miles walking distance
- Denver Int’l Airport (DEN) – 1.14 miles
- Washington Dulles Int’l Airport (IAD) – 0.97 miles
- Pittsburgh Int’l Airport (PIT) – 0.86 miles
- Orlando Int’l Airport (MCO) – 0.70 miles
The funny thing is, not only were George Bush Int’l and John F. Kennedy Int’l Airports removed from the list (PIT and MCO were added), the walking distance of DFW, DEN and IAD changed significantly, as well. These were the 2024 findings:
- Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas – 2.16 miles (1.50 miles in 2026)
- Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia – 1.62 miles (0.97 miles in 2026)
- George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas – 1.52 miles
- Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado – 1.45 miles (1.14 miles in 2026)
- John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York – 1.38 miles
Shortest walks
- Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN) in New Jersey – 0.03 miles walking distance
- Paine Field (PAE) in Washington – 0.04 miles
- Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in Connecticut – 0.05 miles
- Lihue Airport (LIH) in Hawaii – 0.06 miles
- Harrisburg Int’l Airport (MDT) in Pennsylvania – 0.12 miles
Again, several of the airports in the “Top 5” changed, and those that didn’t change had different numbers for distance. These were their 2024 findings:
- Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Kentucky – 0.11 miles
- Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York – 0.12 miles
- Harrisburg International Airport in Middleton, Pennsylvania – 0.13 miles (0.12 in 2026)
- Lihue Airport in Kauai, Hawaii – 0.18 miles (0.06 miles in 2026)
- Hollywood Burbank Airport in Burbank, California – 0.20 miles
Why the differences?
If they’re excluding regional and rural airports, that would explain why some of those smaller airports such as Blue Grass, Westchester and Hollywood Burbank Airports weren’t included in the 2026 report.
But Kuru doesn’t explain the difference in measurements between 2024 and 2026.
In 2024 they said they measured “length of the journey from each terminal to the nearest and farthest gates,” whereas in 2026, they looked at “the walking distance from the main airport entrance to the farthest airport gate.” Now, you’d think that the “main airport entrance” (2026) would be further than the “each terminal” (2024). Yet while the distances for MDT and LIH did indeed become longer this year, those for DFW, IAD and DEN all became SHORTER in 2026???
On top of that, JFK was #5 last year, with a 1.38 mile walk. Yet MCO was #5 this year, with a measly 0.70-mile walk? Granted, JFK may not have had as much construction going on this year (Kuru didn’t mention if they included walking detours due to construction or not), but I sincerely doubt it would account for over a HALF MILE of walking.
I wonder how exactly they determined these distances. Weird.
So while the rankings are still fun to look at—especially if you’ve ever sprinted through DFW, DEN, IAD or MCO trying to make a connection—I’d take the actual mileage figures with a grain of salt.
Some of the changes can be explained by Kuru’s revised methodology and its decision to exclude more regional airports. But that still doesn’t explain why several airports suddenly became dramatically shorter, while others barely changed at all.
Without more detail about how the distances were calculated, it’s difficult to know whether travelers are actually walking less—or whether the measuring tape simply moved.
Either way, if you’ve ever trekked across one of America’s largest airports, your feet probably have their own opinions on the rankings.
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