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 Raleigh-Durham 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 Raleigh-Durham International travelers.
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Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
1 / 20#20. Washington Dulles International (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 141,912 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 111,734
--- #2. Mesa Airlines: 27,654
--- #3. Republic Airline: 1,951
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 150,841 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 136,003
--- #2. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 13,492
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 705
Vladimir Mucibabic // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 150,988 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 133,194
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 12,032
--- #3. Endeavor Air: 5,548
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
4 / 20#17. Ronald Reagan Washington National (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 160,436 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Republic Airline: 54,209
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 47,339
--- #3. American Airlines: 31,863
AevanStock // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. Tampa International (Tampa, FL)
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6 / 20#15. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 177,648 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 123,104
--- #2. Republic Airline: 31,894
--- #3. Endeavor Air: 14,536
f11photo // Shutterstock
7 / 20#14. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore, MD)
- Passengers: 179,823 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 179,779
mariakray // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Passengers: 185,516 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 49,835
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 48,872
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 46,803
Andrew J Simcox // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
- Passengers: 195,985 (3.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 120,937
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 66,796
--- #3. PSA Airlines: 4,828
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
10 / 20#11. Miami International (Miami, FL)
#10. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 263,058 (4.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 252,369
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 10,629
marchello74 // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 266,944 (4.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 142,498
--- #2. American Airlines: 100,352
--- #3. Republic Airline: 14,132
#8. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 276,362 (4.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 209,162
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 48,371
--- #3. Republic Airline: 17,078
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
14 / 20#7. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 283,243 (4.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 127,536
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 80,309
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 75,239
lunamarina // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. Logan International (Boston, MA)
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
16 / 20#5. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 288,892 (4.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 120,858
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 117,685
--- #3. Republic Airline: 35,644
Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. John F. Kennedy International (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 324,023 (4.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. JetBlue Airways: 115,040
--- #2. Endeavor Air: 109,308
--- #3. Republic Airline: 99,403
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 367,495 (5.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 122,488
--- #2. Frontier Airlines: 100,045
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 78,402
#2. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 464,346 (7.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 462,902
--- #2. Envoy Air: 811
--- #3. PSA Airlines: 318
#1. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 673,036 (10.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 552,208
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 88,033
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 32,680
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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