Why Airlines Can’t Get Enough of the Sunshine State
Photo Credit: Travelers are shown at a restaurant at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Nov. 28, 2018. Skift / Hannah Sampson
Skift Take
Florida is a giant market for U.S. and even some non-U.S. airlines, with tourism, population, and economy all growing. But for some carriers, it’s a chief determinant of their financial performance.
In 1980, just as the U.S. airline industry was deregulating, Florida was the country’s seventh most populous state, with about 10 million people. Today, with 20 million people, it ranks No. 3, behind only California and Texas and slightly ahead of New York.
Last year, Florida welcomed a record 117 million visitors, including 14 million from outside the U.S. This helped the state’s economy surpass $1trillion in gross domestic product, larger than the economies of Switzerland, Saudia Arabia, or Argentina. The state’s 18 major airports handled 87 million passengers. Is Florida an important market for airlines? Better believe it.
Consider the world’s largest airline, American. More than a fifth of its seats touch Florida, according to Diio Mi schedule data, with no indication of any strategic desire to lower that figure. American, of course, has one of its primary hubs in Miami, the state’s busiest airport measured by flights if not seats—Orlando’s seat capacity is a bi
