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 Bradley 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 Bradley International travelers.
You may also like: Cities with the most expensive homes in the Hartford metro area
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
1 / 20#20. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 47,378 (1.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Endeavor Air: 30,005
--- #2. Republic Airline: 16,685
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 681
Brian Wilson Photography // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 53,656 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 51,957
--- #2. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 1,687
#18. Palm Beach International (West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL)
- Passengers: 59,300 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 58,908
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 392
Andrew J Simcox // Shutterstock
4 / 20#17. Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
- Passengers: 62,176 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. PSA Airlines: 31,665
--- #2. Piedmont Airlines: 15,475
--- #3. Republic Airline: 7,653
mariakray // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
#15. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 74,592 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 74,468
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 124
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
7 / 20#14. Miami International (Miami, FL)
- Passengers: 79,197 (2.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 55,529
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 18,268
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 4,591
marchello74 // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Chicago Midway International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 85,472 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 85,340
--- #2. Swift Air, LLC d/b/a Eastern Air Lines d/b/a Eastern: 132
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 102,128 (3.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 57,405
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 22,469
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 22,137
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
10 / 20#11. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
11 / 20#10. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 113,009 (3.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. PSA Airlines: 71,575
--- #2. Republic Airline: 34,971
--- #3. American Airlines: 5,510
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. Washington Dulles International (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 123,820 (4.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 71,800
--- #2. Mesa Airlines: 40,013
--- #3. Republic Airline: 9,914
AevanStock // Shutterstock
13 / 20#8. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 128,528 (4.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 61,935
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 58,525
--- #3. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 5,439
Vladimir Mucibabic // Shutterstock
14 / 20#7. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 130,999 (4.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 125,811
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 3,198
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 1,883
#6. Luis Munoz Marin International (San Juan, PR)
- Passengers: 155,553 (5.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 89,632
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 59,699
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 5,941
You may also like: Movies and TV shows casting in Hartford
marchello74 // Shutterstock
16 / 20#5. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 210,579 (6.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 110,513
--- #2. American Airlines: 72,045
--- #3. Republic Airline: 15,323
f11photo // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore, MD)
- Passengers: 211,829 (6.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 211,742
#3. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 241,729 (7.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 238,409
--- #2. PSA Airlines: 3,044
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 270
#2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 326,496 (10.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 299,453
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 26,303
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 582
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
20 / 20#1. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 338,045 (11.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 117,566
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 81,574
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 73,655
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in Hartford in the last week
