From Mountains to Beaches: How the Pandemic Still Shapes Knoxville’s Air Travel

Leisure Travel Now Sets the Pace

Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport has seen a lasting shift in who fills the seats. Flight data for the 12 months ending March 2025 shows leisure trips now drive much of the traffic, a reversal of the pre-pandemic norm. Before 2020, business flyers formed the airport’s core customer base and set the schedule. Today, vacation travelers have taken the lead, and that change continues to influence which routes thrive, when flights operate, and how the terminal plans for growth. Technology helped make it happen. As video meetings became routine, many companies simply stopped flying teams as often and kept those efficiencies. The result is a network that tilts toward beaches, theme parks, and quick getaways rather than weekly client calls.

Why Business Travel Faded—and Leisure Took Off

Airport marketing and air service leaders say virtual tools were the turning point. With Zoom and similar platforms, many firms realized they could manage relationships without flying to every meeting. What once accounted for roughly 80% of McGhee Tyson’s traffic shrank quickly as online calls replaced trips. At the same time, leisure travelers rediscovered East Tennessee. During the pandemic, visitors headed for Great Smoky Mountains National Park to trade lockdown life for open trails and fresh air. Many of those first-time guests have come back repeatedly, even if they never relocated, and word of mouth has turned the region into a reliable vacation choice. Today, the airport estimates the mix sits around 40% business and 60% leisure, with corporate trips recovering but not yet catching up.

Where People Are Flying

Federal passenger statistics show a clear pecking order for Knoxville’s most popular destinations. Florida cities dominate, with Orlando–Sanford, Fort Lauderdale, and St. Petersburg drawing the highest volumes. Chicago remains a steady performer, and New York holds the fifth spot. Each of these markets topped 100,000 passengers during the measured period, underscoring their pull. The spread is wide. Orlando–Sanford logged about 187,634 passengers, while Las Vegas—tenth on the list—counted 59,948. That gap reflects different travel reasons and habits, from families chasing theme parks to friends’ trips built around shows and events.

Who’s Local—and Who’s Visiting

The mix of local residents and inbound visitors varies by route. About 60% of Knoxville-origin travelers to Orlando are locals heading for the parks, while Las Vegas swings even more local at roughly 77%. Dallas and Houston look different. Those flights skew toward inbound passengers who started their trips elsewhere and connect through to Knoxville, a sign that business ties and hub connections feed the market. Seasonal patterns also show up in the data. Fort Lauderdale tends to run close to 50-50. In summer, South Floridians come north for mountain time, and in winter, East Tennesseans head south for beaches and sunshine. Orlando remains a two-way street year-round, with Central Florida residents visiting Knoxville and local families flying down for major attractions.

Not Everyone Starts in Knoxville

Nearly half of the people passing through McGhee Tyson are connecting travelers. Over the 12-month span, 47% of passengers began their journeys somewhere else and used Knoxville as a link in a longer itinerary. That steady flow of inbound visitors helps support more frequencies and keeps a wider variety of routes viable. It also explains why some gates feel busy even when local demand seems flat—hubs feed the schedule, and Knoxville benefits from that connectivity.

Growth on the Ground: Gates, Security, and Parking

McGhee Tyson is expanding to match demand after a standout year. The airport was the fastest-growing major U.S. facility in 2024, with total passengers up 18% compared with 2023. Some of that lift came from incumbent airlines adding flights; some came from new entrants like Avelo, which opened fresh options for local travelers. Looking ahead, Southwest Airlines has announced service starting in 2026 with planned routes to Nashville, Baltimore, Dallas, and Orlando. To stay ahead of the curve, the airport launched “Flight Plan,” a multi-year project to add concourse space, gates, seating, and a larger TSA checkpoint to speed peak-hour lines. A new 3,500-space parking garage is also underway near the terminal and Alcoa Highway, with an exterior design inspired by the rolling shapes of the Smokies. Crews expect the structure to rise above ground soon as construction moves to the next phase.

Keeping the Experience Simple

Even as it grows, the airport wants to protect what locals love about it. Regulars praise McGhee Tyson for being clean, efficient, and easy to navigate. Leaders say maintaining that feel is the top challenge as passenger counts climb and construction ramps up. The plan is to phase work carefully, keep wayfinding clear, and preserve the straightforward in-and-out experience that has made the terminal a regional favorite. The goal is an airport that feels bigger when you need it and small when you do not.

What It Means for Travelers

For now, Knoxville flyers can expect a schedule heavy on leisure favorites with enough hub links to cover business needs. Florida, Chicago, and New York should stay well served, while new airlines and added frequencies create more choice and better fares at the margins. If you are planning trips, book early for peak holiday weeks, watch seasonal shifts on beach routes, and keep an eye on construction updates that may change parking or checkpoint flows. The big picture is upbeat. Leisure demand remains strong, business travel is rebuilding, and the airport is investing to handle the next growth spurt without losing its calm, efficient vibe.

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This article was written by Hunter and edited with AI Assistance