Air travel looks very different now than it did just a few years ago when the coronavirus pandemic grounded folks around the world, putting a halt to travel for both leisure and business.
In 2020, passenger traffic on U.S. airlines was at its lowest since the mid-1980s, with just 369 million passengers. In 2021, the U.S. started to get back to more normal air travel levels, and by 2022, the country was up to 853 million airline passengers. By the looks of it, 2023 is likely to outpace those numbers and return to pre-pandemic levels—nearly 3 million people flew in and out of U.S. airports daily as of April 2023, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organization.
When you're at the airport, shuffling around with your roller bag, backpack, neck pillow, and water bottle among the thousands of other passengers doing the same, you're probably not too concerned with more than your flight. Is it on time? Who will be sitting next to you? Did your checked bag make it onto the plane?
But when you're not in flight mode, you may be wondering where all of the other folks at your local airport are traveling to. To answer that question, Stacker compiled a list of the most common domestic flights from Tucson International using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Destinations are ranked by total passengers from October 2022 to September 2023.
Read on to find out if your flight patterns are similar to your fellow Tucson International travelers.
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#18. Sacramento International (Sacramento, CA)
- Passengers: 4,414 (0.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 4,272
--- #2. Allegiant Air: 142
#17. Alexandria International (Alexandria, LA)
- Passengers: 4,920 (0.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Swift Air, LLC d/b/a Eastern Air Lines d/b/a Eastern: 4,920
Nadia Yong // Shutterstock
3 / 18#16. Portland International (Portland, OR)
- Passengers: 11,021 (0.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 9,848
--- #2. Horizon Air: 852
--- #3. Alaska Airlines: 321
marchello74 // Shutterstock
4 / 18#15. Chicago Midway International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 13,582 (0.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 13,582
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
5 / 18#14. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
#13. William P Hobby (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 40,115 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 40,115
Dancestrokes // Shutterstock
7 / 18#12. San Diego International (San Diego, CA)
- Passengers: 55,603 (3.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 53,804
--- #2. Caribbean Sun Airlines d/b/a World Atlantic Airlines: 1,799
Pete Niesen // Shutterstock
8 / 18#11. San Francisco International (San Francisco, CA)
- Passengers: 57,592 (3.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 56,722
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 701
--- #3. United Air Lines: 169
#10. Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Passengers: 73,029 (4.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 72,483
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 223
--- #3. United Air Lines: 174
#9. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
kan_khampanya // Shutterstock
11 / 18#8. Seattle/Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)
- Passengers: 106,050 (5.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 56,836
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 33,656
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 15,375
marchello74 // Shutterstock
12 / 18#7. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 109,034 (5.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 81,491
--- #2. United Air Lines: 23,342
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 4,074
randy andy // Shutterstock
13 / 18#6. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 129,869 (7.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 129,468
--- #2. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 155
--- #3. Eastern Airlines f/k/a Dynamic Airways, LLC: 134
#5. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 136,186 (7.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 136,139
Strike First // Shutterstock
15 / 18#4. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 179,870 (9.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 115,420
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 64,075
--- #3. United Air Lines: 375
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Nate Hovee // Shutterstock
16 / 18#3. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 205,198 (11.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 141,570
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 54,829
--- #3. Envoy Air: 6,616
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
17 / 18#2. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 253,057 (13.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 139,810
--- #2. United Air Lines: 81,063
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 31,588
#1. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 339,985 (18.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 335,416
--- #2. Envoy Air: 4,497
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.
