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 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta 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 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Raleigh-Durham International (Raleigh/Durham, NC)
- Passengers: 661,826 (1.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 543,306
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 83,842
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 34,439
TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (New Orleans, LA)
- Passengers: 693,070 (1.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 515,337
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 95,991
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 71,315
ESB Professional // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Jacksonville International (Jacksonville, FL)
- Passengers: 697,876 (1.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 615,563
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 82,313
#17. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 718,734 (1.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 362,831
--- #2. United Air Lines: 170,172
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 111,100
lunamarina // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. Logan International (Boston, MA)
#15. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 761,875 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 390,691
--- #2. United Air Lines: 269,452
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 89,040
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
7 / 20#14. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 784,656 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 541,152
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 143,043
--- #3. Republic Airline: 55,974
Andrew J Simcox // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
- Passengers: 820,436 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 450,612
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 134,299
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 78,745
marchello74 // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 838,585 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 403,898
--- #2. United Air Lines: 171,502
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 127,469
randy andy // Shutterstock
10 / 20#11. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 843,503 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 535,314
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 115,370
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 105,070
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11 / 20#10. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 845,769 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 620,950
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 185,455
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 38,438
f11photo // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore, MD)
- Passengers: 916,397 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 473,634
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 229,556
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 135,845
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
13 / 20#8. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 927,905 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 488,095
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 188,541
--- #3. United Air Lines: 131,779
#7. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 940,344 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 416,635
--- #2. American Airlines: 348,763
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 107,796
Strike First // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
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16 / 20#5. Miami International (Miami, FL)
- Passengers: 1,022,189 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 537,912
--- #2. American Airlines: 203,029
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 94,513
AevanStock // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 1,024,540 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 741,618
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 150,944
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 72,969
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 1,094,432 (2.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 706,320
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 182,320
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 81,282
mariakray // Shutterstock
19 / 20#2. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Passengers: 1,267,427 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 697,559
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 305,251
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 151,466
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
20 / 20#1. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 1,425,560 (3.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 961,244
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 194,483
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 136,908
This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.
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