By Elizabeth Millard

Business travelers, stock up on more Sudoku and charge that laptop or handheld device: the travel industry has warned that the months ahead will likely bring increased flight delays and longer security lines for everyone. But it seems that some travelers will be more uncomfortable than others.

According to the Airport Misery Index, created by U.S. News and based on U.S. Department of Transportation statistics, all of the country’s airports are not created equal, nor do they have the same rate of overcrowded flights and delays.

The worst offender, the Index notes, is Detroit Metro (DTW), with only about 60 percent of its flights on time, 40 percent of flights delayed and abundant overcrowding. Other challenging airports are Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Charlotte's Douglas International (CLT), New York's Kennedy International (JFK), Newark Liberty International (EWR) and Minneapolis/St. Paul International (MSP).

The most egregious airports for overstuffed flights are, not surprisingly, the tourist meccas of Las Vegas (LAS) and Honolulu (HNL), each with an average "load factor" of over 80 percent. That means the chance of winning an empty seat nearby for stretching out or letting a laptop "travel in style" is slim to none. But Honolulu does excel when it comes to on-time flights, with a staggering 90 percent of flights taking off when they should, the highest number on the index.

Best airports for taking off on schedule are Oakland (OAK), Houston's Hobby airport (HOU), San Jose International (SJC), Dallas' Love Field (DAL) and Lambert International (STL) in St. Louis. Although all are roughly the same when it comes to fuller flights, they rank high when it comes to fewer delays. And, as frequent travelers know, it's better to be on a full flight that takes off on time than a luxuriously empty flight that's delayed by hours.

The Misery Index is more than just a way to realize you're not imagining things when that flight out of Chicago always seems delayed and yet you seem to breeze through Oakland, even though it's the same airline. The index can be handy for creating more efficient travel plans, since it allows travelers to choose a connecting city with a good reputation. When faced with a choice between St. Louis and Minneapolis, for example, let the saints go marching in and skip the "Minneapple."

The full version of the list can be found on the U.S. News Website and the publication also has a useful "airport performance calculator." They're handy bookmarks for the next time an agent utters that dreadful word, "reroute" and asks which city you prefer. After all, why be miserable, when you can be zipping through Oakland?

And if you happen to get stuck in an airport, despite your best efforts to avoid those at the top of the Misery Index, fire up your laptop and get online with iPass. All of the airports listed in this article offer Wi-Fi and all are part of the iPass network (the only exception is McCarren in Las Vegas, which offers free Wi-Fi—it is accessible through iPassConnect, even though it is not officially part of the iPass network).

And these are just a few of the airports in the iPass network. iPass offers hotspots in the concourses, terminals and frequent flier lounges of more than 400 airports, including 80 of the top 100, as measured by passenger volume. Use our hotspot finder to check and see which of your most and least favorite airports offer Wi-Fi—you can even search by three letter airport code. At least iPass can make that part of your trip easy—the rest is out of our hands.

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