Each state has a different relationship with the airlines that service its airports. In some states, one or two airlines dominate the market, while in others it’s more diversified.
In Texas, unsurprisingly, the two home-state carriers, American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), accounted for more than half of total air travel in the state during a 10-month time period examined by Upgraded Points, a website that publishes airline data reports.
Upgraded Pointslooked at data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics between January and October 2018 to see what market share different airlines had across the country in terms of total passengers.
Dallas-based Southwest ranked No. 1 in U.S. travel with 20 percent of the travel. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) was No. 2 with 16 percent. American was next with 15 percent, and Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL) had 11 percent market share. No other airline had more than 5 percent of U.S. air travel.
Texas was the second-largest state for air travel behind California, which accounted for more than 12 percent of the nation’s total. In California, Southwest is king with a 28 percent market share. The state is key to the airline’s future, as it features the only four mainland gateways thus far to announce Hawaii service for Southwest.
«We are the largest airline in California to, from and within,» a Southwest spokesperson previously told the Dallas Business Journal. «In the last 18-24 months, there’s been a concerted effort to exercise the philosophy we have of being the hometown carrier»…
