United Airlines has claimed the title of the world’s largest airline by fleet size after receiving its 1,000th mainline aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 9 registered as N77584. The milestone delivery, which took place late last month, was highlighted in a 12 February LinkedIn post by Patrick Quayle, the airline’s senior vice president of global network planning and alliances.
Quayle stated that United is the first airline ever to reach 1,000 mainline jets, reinforcing its dominance in the industry.
“While we already hold the claim as the world’s largest airline by ASMs [available seat miles], we are now also the world’s largest airline by fleet size,” he said.
A Tight Race Among Airline Giants
United’s rivals, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, also lay claim to being the world’s largest airline by different metrics.
American Airlines has the most total aircraft, operating 965 mainline jets and 566 regional aircraft.
Delta Air Lines operates 966 mainline aircraft and 317 regional jets, leading the industry in annual revenue.
Southwest Airlines holds a unique title, operating the largest single-type fleet, with 800 Boeing 737s.
United’s mainline fleet is now the biggest, and the airline plans to expand further with 70 additional aircraft deliveries this year. It also has over 700 unfilled orders, according to aviation analytics company Cirium.
“Being the largest airline is a crown we plan on keeping,” Quayle declared.
The Impact of Airline Consolidation
The massive fleet sizes of United, American, and Delta stem from decades of airline mergers and acquisitions, raising concerns about industry competition.
United became one of the world’s largest airlines following its 2010 merger with Continental Airlines, which followed Delta’s 2008 acquisition of Northwest Airlines. The biggest airline merger in U.S. history came in 2013, when American Airlines acquired US Airways.
Critics argue that consolidation, combined with government bailouts during the COVID-19 pandemic, has created airline giants that dominate the U.S. market.
“The larger airlines are now… almost too big to fail,” said Andrew Levy, CEO of start-up carrier Avelo Airlines.
“You have a marketplace that’s been consolidated, where the top four players control 70 to 75% of U.S. airline seats.”
As United continues expanding, the debate over airline dominance and market competition remains a growing concern in the industry.
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