In an effort to replace the revenue they used to get from airlines, some airports have found they can earn cash from slot machines, t-shirts, oil rigs and acres of hay.

In my article about this for Portfolio.com, I also found two airports where the naming rights are up for sale.

In her Forbes article titled “America’s Most Time Draining Airports,” Rebecca Ruiz reports on the Forbes analysis of 2007 Bureau of Transportation statistics for 100 of the largest airports. (The full table of delay statistics is here.)

No surprise – Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) tops the list as “the nation’s worst airport for delays.” In defense, airport officials tick off a list of things passengers can do while they’re stuck at O’Hare: get a massage, shop at the Field Museum kiosk, or eat at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant.

That might keep you amused for about an hour.  In the Top 20 list of airports with the worst delays there are few that offer far more entertainment: San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and DenverInternational Airport (DEN) have lots of artwork to see and at Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport (MSP) there’s oodles of great shopping.

(World Civilization,” by Viola Frey, is located in Boarding Area A. Courtesy SFO airport)

I rarely mind spending a few extra hours at an airport - especially when I get a free ticket for volunteering to take a later flight and there’s free wireless Internet access throughout the terminal.

This afternoon I volunteered to stay behind. The very irate woman in front of me at the customer service counter clearly did not. She was sure she had a confirmed reservation and a free ticket wasn’t going to please her.

Neither was the “bonus” meal voucher. She was so angry she was practically crying.

That got me thinking: wouldn’t it be great if along with those meal vouchers, customer service agents gave the “truly stressed” free passes for chair massages as well?