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 LaGuardia 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 LaGuardia travelers.
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TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
1 / 20#20. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (New Orleans, LA)
- Passengers: 196,754 (1.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 76,613
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 72,080
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 47,861
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 272,577 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 236,397
--- #2. Republic Airline: 35,774
--- #3. United Air Lines: 206
Sharkshock // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Raleigh-Durham International (Raleigh/Durham, NC)
- Passengers: 291,556 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 126,550
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 117,371
--- #3. Republic Airline: 30,428
marchello74 // Shutterstock
4 / 20#17. Chicago Midway International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 302,063 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 302,063
Joe Hendrickson // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. St Louis Lambert International (St. Louis, MO)
#15. Palm Beach International (West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL)
- Passengers: 326,886 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 172,672
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 154,029
--- #3. American Airlines: 176
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7 / 20#14. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 364,759 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 193,464
--- #2. Republic Airline: 171,294
AevanStock // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
- Passengers: 364,877 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 175,502
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 132,453
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 56,902
Brian Wilson Photography // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 420,132 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 188,521
--- #2. Republic Airline: 75,502
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 65,311
#11. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 457,657 (3.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 184,203
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 119,700
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 65,463
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11 / 20#10. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 475,827 (3.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 254,854
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 155,310
--- #3. Republic Airline: 65,063
lunamarina // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. Logan International (Boston, MA)
- Passengers: 491,559 (3.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Republic Airline: 224,934
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 205,000
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 61,617
#8. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 567,526 (3.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 426,932
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 57,804
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 43,443
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
14 / 20#7. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 657,129 (4.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 288,075
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 177,063
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 96,818
mariakray // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
#5. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 788,524 (5.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 565,496
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 141,876
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 60,229
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 842,033 (5.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 325,340
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 264,792
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 176,211
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. Miami International (Miami, FL)
- Passengers: 857,770 (5.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 511,368
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 221,062
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 94,080
#2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 1,082,471 (7.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 695,465
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 179,386
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 82,791
marchello74 // Shutterstock
20 / 20#1. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 1,093,319 (7.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 446,407
--- #2. United Air Lines: 354,091
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 218,372
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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