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 Portland International Jetport 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 Portland International Jetport travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Pittsburgh International (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Passengers: 3,088 (0.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 2,828
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 142
--- #3. Swift Air, LLC d/b/a Eastern Air Lines d/b/a Eastern: 118
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2 / 20#19. Raleigh-Durham International (Raleigh/Durham, NC)
- Passengers: 4,017 (0.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Frontier Airlines: 3,967
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3 / 20#18. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 4,846 (0.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 4,465
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 381
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4 / 20#17. Charleston AFB/International (Charleston, SC)
- Passengers: 5,020 (0.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 4,962
#16. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
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6 / 20#15. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 14,355 (1.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 13,904
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 451
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7 / 20#14. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 18,177 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Frontier Airlines: 17,377
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 384
--- #3. Breeze Aviation Group DBA Breeze: 375
marchello74 // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Chicago Midway International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 23,772 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 23,772
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 28,988 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 17,734
--- #2. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 10,299
--- #3. Endeavor Air: 621
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10 / 20#11. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
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11 / 20#10. Washington Dulles International (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 56,635 (5.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Republic Airline: 23,936
--- #2. United Air Lines: 19,722
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 4,650
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12 / 20#9. John F. Kennedy International (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 72,675 (6.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Endeavor Air: 42,557
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 19,163
--- #3. Republic Airline: 10,955
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13 / 20#8. Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
- Passengers: 83,372 (7.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 48,449
--- #2. PSA Airlines: 22,050
--- #3. Piedmont Airlines: 12,601
#7. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 83,796 (7.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 83,130
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 666
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15 / 20#6. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
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16 / 20#5. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 87,780 (8.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 54,917
--- #2. Envoy Air: 15,866
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 7,834
#4. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 90,425 (8.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 88,203
--- #2. PSA Airlines: 2,179
#3. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 101,125 (9.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Republic Airline: 53,432
--- #2. United Air Lines: 45,738
--- #3. GoJet Airlines LLC d/b/a United Express: 1,955
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19 / 20#2. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 101,682 (9.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Endeavor Air: 52,285
--- #2. Republic Airline: 30,782
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 18,615
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20 / 20#1. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore, MD)
- Passengers: 154,515 (14.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 154,515
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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