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 George Bush Intercontinental/Houston 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 George Bush Intercontinental/Houston travelers.
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#20. Austin - Bergstrom International (Austin, TX)
- Passengers: 276,829 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 246,815
--- #2. Mesa Airlines: 21,529
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 8,313
Brian Wilson Photography // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 281,396 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 132,107
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 104,677
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 31,244
Vladimir Mucibabic // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 282,430 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 140,611
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 63,386
--- #3. United Air Lines: 50,468
kan_khampanya // Shutterstock
4 / 20#17. Seattle/Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)
- Passengers: 287,297 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 166,932
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 120,174
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 191
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. San Antonio International (San Antonio, TX)
#15. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 327,875 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 213,949
--- #2. United Air Lines: 94,202
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 17,220
Nate Hovee // Shutterstock
7 / 20#14. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 328,617 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 208,437
--- #2. American Airlines: 59,816
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 44,820
mariakray // Shutterstock
8 / 20#13. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
- Passengers: 368,731 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 187,263
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 180,926
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 360
TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (New Orleans, LA)
- Passengers: 390,620 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 289,681
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 42,411
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 35,056
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
10 / 20#11. Miami International (Miami, FL)
- Passengers: 391,639 (2.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 156,259
--- #2. American Airlines: 146,356
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 76,670
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Thiago Leite // Shutterstock
11 / 20#10. LaGuardia (New York, NY)
- Passengers: 467,694 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 184,946
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 120,609
--- #3. Mesa Airlines: 68,896
Pete Niesen // Shutterstock
12 / 20#9. San Francisco International (San Francisco, CA)
- Passengers: 552,204 (3.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 552,099
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 105
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
13 / 20#8. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 566,933 (3.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 330,880
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 157,916
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 44,449
#7. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 566,955 (3.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 507,069
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 59,450
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 298
#6. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
randy andy // Shutterstock
16 / 20#5. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
- Passengers: 629,512 (3.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 310,930
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 179,584
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 80,330
marchello74 // Shutterstock
17 / 20#4. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 691,820 (4.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 543,180
--- #2. American Airlines: 76,166
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 58,745
#3. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 717,488 (4.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 362,386
--- #2. United Air Lines: 172,429
--- #3. Spirit Air Lines: 108,002
Strike First // Shutterstock
19 / 20#2. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 796,277 (4.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 534,322
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 165,197
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 74,208
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
20 / 20#1. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 805,779 (4.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 618,764
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 101,510
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 63,546
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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