Source? At EWR a few weeks ago while waiting for luggage, I wandered over to the taxi stand. The quoted fare (there was no line, by the way) was twice that of either Uber or Lyft to the same destination.
I had to cancel a trip from Fort Lee to Stony Brook when I discovered the driver had NJ plates.
They don't know where they're going until they arrive at location.
Early morning through rush hour, and evening rush hour: 2-5x more expensive than a cab, depending on surge pricing.
Holidays: 3-20x more expensive than a cab, depending on surge. I have seen multiple Uber and Lyft fares that would have cost more than the plane ticket did.
And, given that those hotels have shuttles, why would you walk? Just take the hotel's bus. (Or are you feeling that that's not cool, because you're going there not to stay there, but just to take an Uber?)
For example, walking into SLC airport is not trivial to do. It's designed to be driven to, and that only (or, now you can take the train). I mean, you can walk along the bike trail from the southeast corner of the airport, then work your way through the parking lots of the air cargo places, but I don't think there's a sidewalk from the bike trail to the terminal. And that's the best walking option at SLC.
[Edit: A bit of time in Google Maps shows a sidewalk the majority of the way in SLC, but not all of it.]
It's cheaper for the customer, but Uber drivers get screwed in the long term.
Edit: I'm not doxxing myself, sorry. I'm within commuting distance of NYC.