Westchester Airport Fares In Key Findings On U.S. Flight Costs: Report

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Westchester County Airport in New York is the airport where prices have fallen the most, decreasing by $58.18 between 2022 and 2023, according to a new report from the NetCredit blog.

The "The U.S. States and Airports with the Cheapest and Most Expensive Domestic Flights" report listed Westchester's prices as one of its five key findings:

• West Virginia remains the state with the most expensive flights, averaging at $578.37.
• America’s cheapest airport is Orlando Sanford Intl., in Florida, where the average flight costs $143.56.
• Flights are most affordable in New Jersey, where it takes 8.63 hours of work at the average local wage to afford the average flight from a local airport.
• Wyoming is the state where flight prices have risen the most, soaring by +$58.74 year-on-year.
• Westchester County Airport in New York is the airport where prices have fallen the most, decreasing by -$58.18 since 2022.

The report used an uncommon metric to report on the affordability of domestic flights: it calculated the average domestic fare in terms of hours worked at the average state wage. Under that measure, New Jersey has the least expensive fares; New York state came in third, after Hawaii.

Just how low New Jersey fares are went viral a year ago after an intern who commutes from out of state posted about it on TikTok.

The researchers found that air travel prices have fallen in 44 states compared to their last report in 2023. "We identified four airports where tickets are more than $50 cheaper than last year, on average. Westchester County, near White Plains, New York, has enjoyed the best reductions. This has occurred in a year that has seen United Airlines pull out of the airport and budget airlines expanding locally," the report said. "The general fall in prices is not so much an abundance of cheap flights as a return to normalcy after the high costs of air travel in 2021 and 2022."

At Westchester, the average fare dropped by $58.18 while traffic at the airport soared by 67.5 percent, the report said. Contrast that with the biggest average increase in fares, at Jackson Hole in Wyoming, where the price went up $58.74 and traffic dropped by 19.7 percent between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023.

Methodology

To determine the states and airports that are cheapest for domestic flights, NetCredit reviewed data on average domestic fares from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Airports were ranked based on the average domestic fare in Q2 2023. States were ranked based on the aggregate average fare across all airports in the state. Only hub airports, as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration — receiving at least 0.05% of annual U.S. commercial enplanements — were considered.

Data used to calculate affordability came from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Airports were ranked based on the ratio of average domestic fares in Q2 2023 to the average hourly wage for all occupations in the surrounding metropolitan statistical area in 2022. States were ranked based on the ratio of average domestic fares across all hub airports within the state in Q2 2023 to the average statewide hourly wage for all occupations in 2022.

Data used to determine where the cost of domestic flights has increased and decreased the most also came from the BTS. Airports were ranked based on the raw change in average, inflation-adjusted domestic fare from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023. States were ranked based on the raw change in average inflation-adjusted domestic fares across all hub airports from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023.