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 San Antonio 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 San Antonio International travelers.
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1 / 20#20. Washington Dulles International (Washington, DC)
- Passengers: 88,359 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 81,793
--- #2. Mesa Airlines: 6,172
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 387
Vladimir Mucibabic // Shutterstock
2 / 20#19. Detroit Metro Wayne County (Detroit, MI)
- Passengers: 89,247 (1.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 89,090
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 154
ostreetphotography // Shutterstock
3 / 20#18. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)
- Passengers: 92,387 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 78,862
--- #2. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 9,755
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 3,173
#17. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)
- Passengers: 92,718 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 91,530
--- #2. Republic Airline: 1,130
marchello74 // Shutterstock
5 / 20#16. Chicago Midway International (Chicago, IL)
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6 / 20#15. Nashville International (Nashville, TN)
- Passengers: 97,945 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 97,811
--- #2. JetBlue Airways: 130
#14. Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Passengers: 107,445 (2.2% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 103,311
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 3,592
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 300
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8 / 20#13. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore, MD)
- Passengers: 111,869 (2.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 89,347
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 22,425
Songquan Deng // Shutterstock
9 / 20#12. Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
- Passengers: 166,122 (3.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 83,412
--- #2. Spirit Air Lines: 42,618
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 40,092
#11. William P Hobby (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 171,948 (3.5% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 171,663
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 155
--- #3. Swift Air, LLC d/b/a Eastern Air Lines d/b/a Eastern: 130
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marchello74 // Shutterstock
11 / 20#10. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)
- Passengers: 175,713 (3.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 84,951
--- #2. United Air Lines: 84,836
--- #3. Republic Airline: 4,701
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12 / 20#9. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)
- Passengers: 209,896 (4.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 73,585
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 55,249
--- #3. American Airlines: 44,968
#8. Charlotte Douglas International (Charlotte, NC)
- Passengers: 212,501 (4.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 212,082
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 229
--- #3. United Air Lines: 135
#7. Dallas Love Field (Dallas, TX)
- Passengers: 285,419 (5.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 285,024
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 393
randy andy // Shutterstock
15 / 20#6. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)
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16 / 20#5. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
- Passengers: 292,598 (6.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 159,180
--- #2. American Airlines: 133,179
--- #3. Delta Air Lines: 211
#4. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)
- Passengers: 310,405 (6.3% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 274,479
--- #2. Mesa Airlines: 27,910
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 6,555
Andrew Zarivny // Shutterstock
18 / 20#3. Denver International (Denver, CO)
- Passengers: 376,673 (7.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 176,734
--- #2. United Air Lines: 173,154
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 26,521
#2. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
- Passengers: 462,024 (9.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 359,132
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 80,840
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 21,879
#1. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)
- Passengers: 481,232 (9.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 480,746
--- #2. Envoy Air: 355
--- #3. Alaska Airlines: 120
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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