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 Detroit Metro Wayne County 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 Detroit Metro Wayne County travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 248,578 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 161,227
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 86,930
--- #3. Endeavor Air: 213
#19. Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Passengers: 254,348 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 254,170
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 139
Nadezda Murmakova // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Southwest Florida International (Fort Myers, FL)
- Passengers: 263,737 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 181,298
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 82,362
#17. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 279,004 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 142,459
--- #2. Republic Airline: 62,075
--- #3. United Air Lines: 59,122
#16. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
#15. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 301,152 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 175,827
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 119,035
--- #3. PSA Airlines: 5,000
kan_khampanya // Shutterstock
7 / 20#14. Seattle/Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)
- Passengers: 329,228 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 257,726
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 71,326
--- #3. United Air Lines: 176
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 336,228 (2.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 270,841
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 55,172
--- #3. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 10,055
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9 / 20#12. Logan International (Boston, MA)
- Passengers: 338,635 (2.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 254,830
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 83,655
AevanStock // Shutterstock
10 / 20#11. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 360,178 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 242,655
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 99,313
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 16,622
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11 / 20#10. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Passengers: 369,086 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 263,401
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 105,589
marchello74 // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 374,385 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 159,776
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 105,741
--- #3. United Air Lines: 70,184
Nate Hovee // Shutterstock
13 / 20#8. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 395,188 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 235,178
--- #2. American Airlines: 82,536
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 47,989
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14 / 20#7. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 437,064 (3.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 328,645
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 107,388
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 1,031
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. Denver International (Denver, CO)
#5. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 446,327 (3.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 218,332
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 175,571
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 52,424
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 475,495 (3.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 255,149
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 157,347
--- #3. Republic Airline: 62,799
randy andy // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 512,228 (3.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 305,249
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 146,285
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 55,649
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
19 / 20#2. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 661,843 (4.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 383,365
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 219,820
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 54,913
#1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 846,952 (6.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 622,388
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 184,637
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 39,453
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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