The 10 most popular airline routes in America

Updated November 18, 2024

Every day, the equivalent of a decent-size American town travels one way along the country’s most popular routes.

Many of the routes connect America’s biggest cities, with many of them ending in New York City or Los Angeles. The Department of Transportation compiles a list of which ones are the most trafficked and tracks which airlines have the biggest market share along those routes, in case consumers are interested in who has bragging routes for serving which destinations.

Check out which airline routes saw the heaviest passenger traffic during the second quarter of the year.

10. Boston to Washington, D.C.

This route saw 7,193 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was JetBlue Airways (JBLU).

9. Las Vegas to Los Angeles

This route saw 7,533 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was Southwest Airlines (LUV).

8. Los Angeles to Seattle

This route saw 7,836 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was Alaska Airlines (ALK).

7. New York City to San Francisco

This route saw 9,142 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was United Airlines (UAL).

6. Atlanta to New York City

This route saw 9,691 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was Delta Air Lines (DAL).

5. Chicago to New York City

This route saw 11,036 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was United Airlines.

4. New York City to Orlando

This route saw 13,302 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was JetBlue Airways.

3. Los Angeles to New York City

This route saw 13,856 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was JetBlue Airways.

2. Los Angeles to San Francisco

This route saw 17,527 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was Southwest Airlines.

1. Miami to New York City

This route saw 18,809 passengers per day on average in the second quarter. The carrier with the largest market share for the route was JetBlue Airways.