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 Seattle/Tacoma 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 Seattle/Tacoma International travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Logan International (Boston, MA)
- Passengers: 406,234 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 192,095
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 153,403
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 60,382
#19. Sacramento International (Sacramento, CA)
- Passengers: 445,816 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 165,443
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 141,081
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 65,801
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3 / 20#18. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 460,204 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 292,354
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 112,663
--- #3. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 55,123
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4 / 20#17. Daniel K Inouye International (Honolulu, HI)
- Passengers: 461,148 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 240,126
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 123,643
--- #3. Hawaiian Airlines: 97,379
#16. John Wayne Airport-Orange County (Santa Ana, CA)
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6 / 20#15. John F. Kennedy International (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 480,763 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 216,797
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 206,842
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 57,124
#14. Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Passengers: 490,029 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 310,999
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 152,115
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 26,716
Uladzik Kryhin // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (San Jose, CA)
- Passengers: 514,107 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 279,314
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 143,723
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 60,043
Kirk Fisher // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Spokane International (Spokane, WA)
- Passengers: 517,443 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 177,372
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 170,771
--- #3. Horizon Air: 146,989
#11. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 573,046 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 421,783
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 151,077
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 179
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#10. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 621,927 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 370,586
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 251,165
--- #3. United Air Lines: 176
Dancestrokes // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. San Diego International (San Diego, CA)
- Passengers: 626,688 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 403,802
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 211,787
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 8,359
Nadia Yong // Shutterstock
13 / 20#8. Portland International (Portland, OR)
- Passengers: 631,378 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 218,638
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 192,526
--- #3. Horizon Air: 160,227
marchello74 // Shutterstock
14 / 20#7. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 726,425 (3.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 286,437
--- #2. United Air Lines: 226,644
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 111,084
Pete Niesen // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. San Francisco International (San Francisco, CA)
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16 / 20#5. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 900,443 (4.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 283,631
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 236,779
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 205,603
Nate Hovee // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 938,971 (4.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 442,810
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 222,366
--- #3. American Airlines: 121,423
randy andy // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 966,195 (4.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 387,144
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 231,044
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 159,359
Strike First // Shutterstock
19 / 20#2. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 999,097 (4.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 514,469
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 326,537
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 59,669
Daniel Case // Shutterstock
20 / 20#1. Ted Stevens Anchorage International (Anchorage, AK)
- Passengers: 1,013,180 (4.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 797,395
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 212,749
--- #3. Horizon Air: 2,987
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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