Phoenix Sky Harbor Sees Biggest Drop in Passengers Since 2009

Panama City, Panama – Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), Arizona's largest and busiest airport, saw the biggest drop in number of passengers since 2009. A total of 43,383,528 passengers passed through Phoenix Sky Harbor, down 1.6 percent compared to 2015, which saw a total of 44,003,850 passengers. It is the first time the airport has seen a drop since 2013 and the biggest drop since 2009.

Terminal 4, which accounts for more than 80 percent of traffic, saw a 2.4 percent decline in passengers departing and a 2.3 percent decline of passengers arriving. It is possible that Phoenix Sky Harbor's number of passengers dropped due to the merger between American Airlines (AAL) and U.S. Airways back in 2013.

Why American Airlines? Because they reduced the number of flights from Phoenix, reduced the number of aircraft based at the airport, moved portions of its employees out of Phoenix and ended service to several destinations. American Airlines saw a drop of 9.3 percent in passengers in 2016.