Top 50 US Metros ranked by average daily airport O&D traffic.

[SlidellWx]

Metro          Daily O&D      total     total O&D    O&D %  # of Airports
New York	 127,801   51,883,694   23,131,981  44.60%  6 airports
Los Angeles      104,723   34,789,171   18,954,863  54.50%  4 airports
Chicago	         86,821    39,281,585   15,714,601  40.00%  2 airports
Miami	         79,636    31,262,044   14,414,116  46.10%  3 airports
Las Vegas        73,138    20,224,090   13,237,978  65.50%	
San Francisco    68,838    22,139,378   12,459,678  56.30%  2 airports
Orlando          68,040    18,211,975   12,315,240  67.60%  2 airports
Dallas/Ft.Worth  59,577    31,149,065   10,783,437  34.60%  2 airports
Atlanta	         56,645    43,008,154	10,252,745  23.80%	
Phoenix	         54,040    18,968,897	 9,781,240  51.60%	
Denver	         53,747    24,337,554	 9,728,207  40.00%	
Washington       52,832    19,915,669	 9,562,592  48.00%  2 airports
Boston	         44,673    12,068,312    8,085,813  67.00%	
Seattle	         43,376    14,787,443	 7,851,056  53.10%	
Philadelphia     41,860    14,878,298    7,576,660  50.90%	
Houston	         39,021    23,606,848    7,062,801  29.90%  2 airports
Tampa	         39,021     9,348,162	 7,062,801  75.30%  2 airports
Baltimore        38,901    10,001,992	 7,041,081  70.30%	
San Diego        36,242     8,171,820	 6,559,802  80.30%	
Minneapolis      34,399    16,173,119	 6,226,219  38.50%	
Detroit	         33,128    15,715,346    5,996,168  38.20%	
Salt Lake City   22,696     9,988,837	 4,107,976  41.10%	
St. Louis        22,361     6,258,829	 4,047,341  64.70%	
Portland         22,144     6,116,995	 4,008,064  65.50%	
Sacramento       20,175     4,356,274    3,651,675  83.80%	
Kansas City      19,973     4,685,648	 3,615,113  77.20%	
Charlotte        19,562    17,215,648	 3,540,722  20.60%	
Raleigh/Durham   18,585     4,291,234	 3,363,885  78.40%	
San Jose         18,581     4,039,922    3,363,161  83.30%	
New Orleans      18,378     3,977,881	 3,326,418  83.60%	
Austin	         17,189     3,915,683	 3,111,209  79.50%	
Pittsburgh       16,913     3,922,714    3,061,253  78.00%	
San Antonio      16,777     3,830,211	 3,036,637  79.30%	
Nashville	 16,751     4,329,413	 3,031,931  70.00%	
Indianapolis     16,377     4,155,161    2,964,237  71.30%	
Riverside	 14,623     3,302,863    2,646,763  80.10%  2 airports
Columbus	 13,328     3,028,930	 2,412,368  79.60%	
Jacksonville     12,741     2,835,324	 2,306,121  81.30%	
Milwaukee        12,541     3,560,224	 2,269,921  63.80%	
Hartford	 12,099     3,056,490    2,189,919  71.70%	
Cleveland	 11,767     4,719,504    2,129,827  45.10%	
Buffalo	         11,662     2,536,000	 2,110,822  83.20%	
Providence       10,617     2,168,664	 1,921,677  88.60%	
Norfolk	          9,343     2,140,859	 1,691,083  79.00%  2 airports
Cincinnati	  7,976     5,416,171    1,443,656  26.70%	
Memphis	          7,408     4,855,090	 1,340,848  27.60%	
Oklahoma City	  6,763     1,643,426	 1,224,103  74.50%	
Louisville	  6,697     1,593,425	 1,212,157  76.10%	
Richmond	  6,617     1,608,958	 1,197,677  74.40%	
Birmingham	  5,845     1,444,029	 1,057,945  73.30%

DomesticO&D Data is obtained from table 6 at this site http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/X-5...farereport.htm. Unfortunately, this data is only for the lower 48 states. Could not find international data.

All other data was obtained from monthly airport stats posted on airport webpages. All data is for the first 6 months of 2009. Used top 50 metros for metro list.

Thought these were interesting Origin & Destination market size stats to see. If there were no hubs, and all service was simply point to point the 10 busiest markets would be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Orlando, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

[northbay]

wait, is there a reason san jose is separate from san francisco? because if they were included together sf would be wayyyy higher on that list , just about tied with chicago

not this different msa bulls--- again!

[Cirrus]

^
Same issue with Baltimore and Washington. In every way that matters, BWI is a Washington-area airport. In fact, if you live in the inner city of Washington, BWI is more convenient and easier to access than Dulles.

Also same issue with Riverside and LA. I assume most people here would say they should be combined?

[Austinlee]

New York has SIX airports?? Didn't know that.

[Cirrus]

Here is the list modified to include all three SF and DC area airports, and the 6 LA/Riverside airports. If there are other cities so split, others can feel free to modify & combine.

Metro          Daily O&D      total     total O&D    O&D %  # of Airports
New York	 127,801   51,883,694   23,131,981  44.60%  6 airports
LA Area		 119,346   38,092,034	21,601,626  56.70%  6 airports <-----
DC Area		 91,733	   29,917,661	16,603,673  55.50%  3 airports <-----
SF Area		 87,419	   26,179,300	15,822,839  60.44%  3 airports <-----
Chicago	         86,821    39,281,585   15,714,601  40.00%  2 airports
Miami	         79,636    31,262,044   14,414,116  46.10%  3 airports
Las Vegas        73,138    20,224,090   13,237,978  65.50%	
Orlando          68,040    18,211,975   12,315,240  67.60%  2 airports
Dallas/Ft.Worth  59,577    31,149,065   10,783,437  34.60%  2 airports
Atlanta	         56,645    43,008,154	10,252,745  23.80%	
Phoenix	         54,040    18,968,897	 9,781,240  51.60%	
Denver	         53,747    24,337,554	 9,728,207  40.00%	
Boston	         44,673    12,068,312    8,085,813  67.00%	
Seattle	         43,376    14,787,443	 7,851,056  53.10%	
Philadelphia     41,860    14,878,298    7,576,660  50.90%	
Houston	         39,021    23,606,848    7,062,801  29.90%  2 airports
Tampa	         38,865     8,888,162	 7,034,565  79.20%	
San Diego        36,242     8,171,820	 6,559,802  80.30%	
Minneapolis      34,399    16,173,119	 6,226,219  38.50%	
Detroit	         33,128    15,715,346    5,996,168  38.20%	
Salt Lake City   22,696     9,988,837	 4,107,976  41.10%	
St. Louis        22,361     6,258,829	 4,047,341  64.70%	
Portland         22,144     6,116,995	 4,008,064  65.50%	
Sacramento       20,175     4,356,274    3,651,675  83.80%	
Kansas City      19,973     4,685,648	 3,615,113  77.20%	
Charlotte        19,562    17,215,648	 3,540,722  20.60%	
Raleigh/Durham   18,585     4,291,234	 3,363,885  78.40%	
New Orleans      18,378     3,977,881	 3,326,418  83.60%	
Austin	         17,189     3,915,683	 3,111,209  79.50%	
Pittsburgh       16,913     3,922,714    3,061,253  78.00%	
San Antonio      16,777     3,830,211	 3,036,637  79.30%	
Nashville	 16,751     4,329,413	 3,031,931  70.00%	
Indianapolis     16,377     4,155,161    2,964,237  71.30%	
Columbus	 13,328     3,028,930	 2,412,368  79.60%	
Jacksonville     12,741     2,835,324	 2,306,121  81.30%	
Milwaukee        12,541     3,560,224	 2,269,921  63.80%	
Hartford	 12,099     3,056,490    2,189,919  71.70%	
Cleveland	 11,767     4,719,504    2,129,827  45.10%	
Buffalo	         11,662     2,536,000	 2,110,822  83.20%	
Providence       10,617     2,168,664	 1,921,677  88.60%	
Norfolk	          9,343     2,140,859	 1,691,083  79.00%  2 airports
Cincinnati	  7,976     5,416,171    1,443,656  26.70%	
Memphis	          7,408     4,855,090	 1,340,848  27.60%	
Oklahoma City	  6,763     1,643,426	 1,224,103  74.50%	
Louisville	  6,697     1,593,425	 1,212,157  76.10%	
Richmond	  6,617     1,608,958	 1,197,677  74.40%	
Birmingham	  5,845     1,444,029	 1,057,945  73.30%

... So OP's statement about how "if there were no hubs, and all service was simply point to point the 10 busiest markets would be..." should be modified to read:
1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Washington
4. San Francisco
5. Chicago
6. Miami
7. Las Vegas
8. Orlando
9. Dallas/Ft. Worth
10. Atlanta

... Although Boston might crack the top 10 if Providence and Manchester were added to Logan. Combining Boston and Providence gets you 55,290 O&D passengers, good for 11th place and only 1,355 behind Atlanta for 10th. Unfortunately OP's link to the original report is broken, so I can't look up Manchester to see if it's big enough to cover that 1,355 difference.

[northbay]

i like the new list better. thank u cirrus. i think it does a better job describing the regions

[brickell]

It doesn't look like PIE was added to Tampa Metro either.

[Cirrus]

Just for kicks and giggles, here's the list ranked by total (not just O&D). I cut the list off at the 10 million line. And again, Boston would be a little higher with Providence and Manchester, and (apparently) Tampa with whatever PIE is.

New York	 51,883,694
Atlanta	         43,008,154
Chicago	         39,281,585
LA Area		 38,092,034
Miami	         31,262,044
Dallas/Ft.Worth  31,149,065
DC Area		 29,917,661
SF Area		 26,179,300
Denver	         24,337,554
Houston	         23,606,848
Las Vegas        20,224,090
Phoenix	         18,968,897
Orlando          18,211,975
Charlotte        17,215,648
Minneapolis      16,173,119
Detroit	         15,715,346
Philadelphia     14,878,298
Seattle	         14,787,443
Boston	         12,068,312

[VivaLFuego]

Another potential measure would be "Annual OD per CSA Resident". Of course, the tourism-based cities obscure the meaning here somewhat.

Of some of the biggies, here are a few for comparison sake. Number is Air OD per CSA resident.

Bay Area 2.2
BalWash 2.0
Atlanta 1.8
Chicago 1.6
DFW 1.6
LA 1.2
NYC 1.0

It would seem that in general, this measure confirms the stereotypes of which metro areas are the most "white collar" and wealthy, and thus able to fly more: BalWash and Bay Area are tops.

Testing this correlation further, we get...

Seattle 1.9

[fflint]

What does "O&D" stand for?

[glowrock]

Origin and Destination, fflint. In other words, not just layovers/transfers...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Evergrey]

I'm really shocked at how minuscule Cincinnati's O&D traffic is... I think they have some of the highest fares in the nation there... which probably depresses those numbers considerably... sure, the hub operation might offer flights to all sorts of destinations... but if the prices are too high... who is the airport serving? Certainly not Cincinnati, it appears.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

^
Same issue with Baltimore and Washington. In every way that matters, BWI is a Washington-area airport. In fact, if you live in the inner city of Washington, BWI is more convenient and easier to access than Dulles.

Also same issue with Riverside and LA. I assume most people here would say they should be combined?

My dad always used BWI for business trips when he could (in the 1960s even)--MUCH more convenient to DC's MD suburbs than Reagan or Dulles.

But the fiction that San Jose is somehow a separate metro is increasingly egregious and will only get more so when HSR links downtown SF and downtown SJ and you can get from one to the other in minutes. The urbanization is already more of less continuous (except for military, government and park land and other "reservations").

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Another potential measure would be "Annual OD per CSA Resident". Of course, the tourism-based cities obscure the meaning here somewhat.

Of some of the biggies, here are a few for comparison sake. Number is Air OD per CSA resident.

Bay Area 2.2
BalWash 2.0
Atlanta 1.8
Chicago 1.6
DFW 1.6
LA 1.2
NYC 1.0

It would seem that in general, this measure confirms the stereotypes of which metro areas are the most "white collar" and wealthy, and thus able to fly more: BalWash and Bay Area are tops.

Testing this correlation further, we get...

Seattle 1.9

Surveying the list... I'd say there is a correlation between how remote a city is and its O&D traffic... check out Denver... I know they get a lot of people flying in to ski... but you can't easily drive or take a train to any other major city from Denver... so you're pretty much forced to fly. Seattle is also tucked away in a rather remote part of the country. Etc etc. If you live in NYC or Phila, for example, you can easily drive or take a train to many major destinations in the Northeast.

Local fares also play a part... such as Cincinnati's sky-high fares due to Delta's hub monopoly there. With a multitude of major airports nearby (Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville)... Cincinnatians can easily find more affordable flight options within a 2 hour drive.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Another potential measure would be "Annual OD per CSA Resident". Of course, the tourism-based cities obscure the meaning here somewhat.

Of some of the biggies, here are a few for comparison sake. Number is Air OD per CSA resident.

Bay Area 2.2
BalWash 2.0
Atlanta 1.8
Chicago 1.6
DFW 1.6
LA 1.2
NYC 1.0

It would seem that in general, this measure confirms the stereotypes of which metro areas are the most "white collar" and wealthy, and thus able to fly more: BalWash and Bay Area are tops.

Testing this correlation further, we get...

Seattle 1.9

That's very interesting. I've always wondered if residents of certain metro areas had more of a propensity to fly than others, and what the correlation is with demographics factors such as income levels, access to other modes of transportation, and proximity to other population centers.

It amazes me that despite all the people who transfer in Atlanta, it's still a very large O&D market compared to many of its peers of similar or larger size.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

That's very interesting. I've always wondered if residents of certain metro areas had more of a propensity to fly than others, and what the correlation is with demographics factors such as income levels, access to other modes of transportation, and proximity to other population centers.

It amazes me that despite all the people who transfer in Atlanta, it's still a very large O&D market compared to many of its peers of similar or larger size.

I think that's partly due to the people outside of the Atlanta CSA who still make the drive all the way to Atlanta to fly because its close enough to do so.

[spark317]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

I've always wondered if residents of certain metro areas had more of a propensity to fly than others, and what the correlation is with demographics factors such as income levels, access to other modes of transportation, and proximity to other population centers.

I think there is merit in what you are saying.

Surveys show that almost 90% of visitors to the Norfolk area, including Va Beach and Williamsburg, arrive by automobile.

[ColDayMan]

The Cincinnati numbers are so low thanks in part to Delta outrageous pricing with the airport that locals go to Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Lexington.

Shit, I can't even remember the last time I flew out of Cincinnati.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I feel sorry for all O&D passengers using LAX. All the comfort and amenities of an airport from the 1970s...today!

[bnk]

Originally Posted by northbay420

wait, is there a reason san jose is separate from san francisco? because if they were included together sf would be wayyyy higher on that list , just about tied with chicago

not this different msa bulls--- again!

Same issue with Milwaukee's airport. Those figures highly inflated from Chicagoland travelers and should be included in the Chicago Airport number boosting it to at least 3 internationals. Then there is Gary and Rockford too to figure in. But where does one stop.