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 Northwest Arkansas National 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 Northwest Arkansas National travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Phoenix - Mesa Gateway (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 7,982 (0.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 7,982
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2 / 20#19. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 8,903 (0.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 8,454
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 271
--- #3. American Airlines: 178
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3 / 20#18. Miami International (Miami, FL)
- Passengers: 11,065 (1.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 11,065
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4 / 20#17. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 11,530 (1.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 11,530
#16. St Pete Clearwater International (St. Petersburg, FL)
- Passengers: 13,031 (1.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 13,031
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6 / 20#15. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 13,282 (1.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Endeavor Air: 10,491
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 2,791
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7 / 20#14. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 13,809 (1.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 13,737
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8 / 20#13. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 18,057 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 16,566
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 1,097
--- #3. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 294
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9 / 20#12. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 18,107 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 17,042
--- #2. Republic Airline: 1,000
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10 / 20#11. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 18,338 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 15,969
--- #2. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 2,369
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11 / 20#10. Orlando Sanford International (Sanford, FL)
- Passengers: 20,285 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 20,285
#9. Eglin AFB Destin Fort Walton Beach (Valparaiso, FL)
- Passengers: 23,327 (2.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Allegiant Air: 23,327
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13 / 20#8. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 28,942 (3.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 22,167
--- #2. Allegiant Air: 6,559
--- #3. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 127
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14 / 20#7. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 37,445 (4.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Republic Airline: 35,538
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 1,907
#6. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 53,870 (5.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. CommuteAir LLC dba CommuteAir: 36,680
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 13,030
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 3,238
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16 / 20#5. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 81,872 (8.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 40,427
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 28,693
--- #3. CommuteAir LLC dba CommuteAir: 12,595
#4. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 101,667 (10.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 59,075
--- #2. American Airlines: 33,299
--- #3. PSA Airlines: 9,293
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18 / 20#3. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 110,674 (11.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 54,524
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 39,542
--- #3. GoJet Airlines LLC d/b/a United Express: 6,309
#2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 118,119 (12.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 77,647
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 39,736
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 736
#1. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 203,420 (21.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Envoy Air: 123,168
--- #2. American Airlines: 61,346
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 11,283
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.