Biggest Airlines USA
Over the last few centuries, the airline industry has undergone numerous changes just like the way humans travel. For a fact, the airline industry has turned the world into a smaller place, allowing billions of people to travel around the globe. The industry is continuously growing and as a result of this, the world’s major airlines have become household names.
In this blog, we will take a look at the biggest U.S carriers that are dominating the U.S market. Indeed, the easiest way to know which carrier is dominating the U.S. market is by calculating the total number of passengers flown by a carrier.
So, take a look at the biggest airlines in the U.S from the following list.
1. American Airlines
American Airlines is one of the leading air carriers in the U.S market. It has a record of carrying the maximum number of passengers that is much higher than any other airline in the world. The airlines have reached great heights because of its fast-developing global network and its tie-up with several US Airways. The airlines hold an important position in the massive US air travel market. However, Delta and United are quite behind in the line.
2. Delta Air Lines
After defeating United Airlines in the competition by a margin of 4.3% growth, Delta again gained the second position and is considered as the second-largest airline in the world. It is behind American airlines only by half a billion RPKs and could anytime leave American Airlines behind in the competition in 2019. It can also be a result of America’s quarrel with its mechanics’ union and the grounding of its 737 MAX aircraft for the rest of the year.
3. Southwest Airlines
Southwest holds a good position in terms of volume carried. The airlines might not cover much distance in the air but it will surely cover it up with the number of passengers it carries. In spite of flying only Boeing 737 aircraft on both short-haul and medium-haul routes, Southwest Airlines is only behind by two big U.S carriers.
It is being heard that Southwest is working on expanding its network and adding some new routes on its radar. However, it’s rank in the U.S market will come down in 2019 because of the grounding of its 737 MAX fleet and its ongoing conflict with few of the mechanics at the beginning of the year. This dispute has also resulted in cancellations of some of the flights for the rest of the year.
4. United Airlines
United Airlines is another airline that is counted among the top carries in the U.S. Going by the number of passengers it had carried in 2018, it had obtained the third position among the top carriers of 2018. Even if Delta airlines edge out American airlines in the competition, it will be in a neck to neck situation with United airlines. From the data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, united clearly out passes Delta in terms of the revenue collected per passenger-miles. However, the data collected through IATA shows a different story. Going by the data that IATA has collected, Delta is still running much ahead of United airlines by around half a billion RPKs. Moreover, the 737 MAX grounding in 2019 has also affected the business of united Airlines and as a result, Delta might rise on the top.
5. Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is another U.S airline that has its name and fame in the U.S airline market. According to reports, Seattle’s hometown airline carried as many as 40 million passengers and flew to more than 115 destinations to major destinations in the world and operated around 1200 flights daily across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and Cuba in 2017. Recently, the airlines have started operating flights between Havana and Los Angeles and then suddenly stopped it from operating to these places. It also added few stops and nonstop routes that fly out of San Diego and San Francisco.
Therefore, this list will give you an idea of the biggest U.S airlines in the world based on the number of passengers it has carried in the past year. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects that by 2036, around 7.8 billion passengers will choose to travel by air giving a major boost to the aviation industry.