This is a list of airlines which have an air operator's certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States.
Note: Destinations in bold indicate primary hubs, those in italic indicate secondary hubs, and those with regular font indicate focus cities. For legacy carriers American, Delta, and United, the most strategic/well connected hubs are shown as Primary Hubs.
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Primary hubs, secondary hubs | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaska Airlines | AS | ASA | ALASKA | Seattle/Tacoma Anchorage Portland (OR) San Francisco Los Angeles | 1932 | Founded as McGee Airways and commenced operations in 1944 as Alaska Airlines. | |
Allegiant Air | G4 | AAY | ALLEGIANT | Las Vegas Cincinnati Destin/Ft. Walton Beach Indianapolis Orlando/Sanford Memphis Pittsburgh Bellingham Des Moines Punta Gorda Grand Rapids | 1997 | Founded as WestJet Express and began operations in 1998 as Allegiant Air. | |
American Airlines | AA | AAL | AMERICAN | Dallas/Fort Worth Charlotte Chicago–O'Hare Miami Philadelphia Phoenix–Sky Harbor Los Angeles New York–JFK New York–LaGuardia Washington–National | 1926 | Founded as American Airways and commenced operations in 1936 as American Air Lines; largest airline in the world based on airline company revenue, scheduled passenger miles flown (per year), and fleet size. | |
Avelo Airlines | XP | VXP | AVELO | Burbank New Haven Orlando Hartford Lakeland Raleigh/Durham Santa Rosa Wilmington (DE) | 1987 | First did business as Casino Express Airlines and commenced operations in 1989. Started scheduled service in Burbank, CA, April 28, 2021. | |
Breeze Airways | MX | MXY | MOXY | Charleston (SC) Hartford New Orleans Norfolk Providence Provo Tampa | 2018 | Founded as Moxy Airways but was renamed due to trademark issues | |
Delta Air Lines | DL | DAL | DELTA | Atlanta Detroit Minneapolis/St. Paul New York–JFK Salt Lake City Boston Los Angeles New York–LaGuardia Seattle/Tacoma | 1924 | Founded as Huff Daland Dusters and commenced operations in 1929 as Delta Air Service. | |
Eastern Airlines | 2D | EAL | EASTERN | Miami | 2010 | ||
Frontier Airlines | F9 | FFT | FRONTIER FLIGHT | Denver Atlanta Chicago–O'Hare Cincinnati Cleveland Las Vegas Miami Orlando Philadelphia Raleigh/Durham | 1994 | ||
Hawaiian Airlines | HA | HAL | HAWAIIAN | Honolulu Kahului | 1929 | Founded as Inter-Island Airways in early 1929 and commenced operations in late 1929 as Hawaiian Airlines | |
JetBlue | B6 | JBU | JETBLUE | New York–JFK Boston Los Angeles Fort Lauderdale Orlando | 1998 | Founded as New Air and commenced operations in 2000 as JetBlue Airways. | |
Southwest Airlines | WN | SWA | SOUTHWEST | Dallas–Love Atlanta Baltimore Chicago–Midway Denver Houston–Hobby Las Vegas Los Angeles Oakland Orlando Phoenix–Sky Harbor Nashville | 1967 | Founded as Air Southwest and commenced operations in 1971 as Southwest Airlines; largest airline in the world based on number of passengers served per year. | |
Spirit Airlines | NK | NKS | SPIRIT WINGS | Fort Lauderdale Atlantic City Atlanta Detroit Las Vegas Chicago–O'Hare Dallas/Fort Worth Baltimore Orlando Houston–Intercontinental | 1980 | Founded as Charter One. | |
Sun Country Airlines | SY | SCX | SUN COUNTRY | Minneapolis/St. Paul Dallas/Fort Worth Las Vegas | 1982 | Commenced operations in 1983. Operates some Amazon Air cargo flights. | |
United Airlines | UA | UAL | UNITED | Chicago–O'Hare Denver Houston–Intercontinental Newark San Francisco Washington–Dulles Guam Los Angeles | 1926 | Founded as Varney Air Lines and commenced operations in 1931 as United Air Lines. |
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Primary hubs, secondary hubs | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air Charter Bahamas | |||||||
Air Charter Express | FRG | FREIGHT RUNNERS | Milwaukee | 1985 | |||
Air Flight Charters | FLL | Ft. Lauderdale | 1987 | ||||
Airshare | XSR | AIRSHARE | 2000 | Founded as Executive Flight Services | |||
Berry Aviation | BYA | BERRY | San Marcos | 1983 | |||
Bighorn Airways | BHR | BIGHORN AIR | Sheridan | 1947 | |||
Choice Airways | CSX | CHOICE AIR | Ft. Lauderdale–Executive | 2009 | |||
Eastern Air Express | HWA | HILLWOOD | Fort Worth/Alliance | 2013 | Founded as ATX Air Services | ||
ExcelAire | XLS | EXCELAIRE | Long Island/Islip | 1993 | |||
Global Crossing Airlines | G6 | GXA | GEMINI | Atlantic City Las Vegas Miami | 2018 | ||
Gryphon Airlines | Y3 | VOS | Kuwait City | ||||
IBC Airways | II | CSQ | CHASQUI | Ft. Lauderdale | 1991 | ||
L-3 Flight International Aviation | RTD | RIPTIDE | Newport News | 1972 | |||
Liberty Jet Management | LRT | LIBERTY JET | Long Island/Islip | 2006 | |||
NetJets | 1I | EJA | EXECJET | Columbus | 1964 | Founded as Executive Jets Aviation. | |
Omni Air International | X9 | OAE | OMNI-EXPRESS | Tulsa | 1993 | ||
Omni Air Transport | DRL | DRILLER | Tulsa | ||||
Pacific Coast Jet | PXT | PACK COAST | 2006 | ||||
Pentastar Aviation | DCX | TANGO | Waterford | 1964 | Founded as Chrysler Air Transportation. | ||
Phoenix Air | PH | PHA | GRAY BIRD | Cartersville | 1978 | ||
PlaneSense | CNS | CHRONOS | Portsmouth (NH) | 1992 | |||
Presidential Airways | PRD | PRESIDENTIAL | Melbourne/Orlando | ||||
Sierra Pacific Airlines | SI | SPA | SIERRA PACIFIC | Tucson | 1970 | Commenced operations in 1971. | |
Skymax | SMX | SKYMAX | Ft. Lauderdale–Executive | 1997 | Commenced operations in 2013. | ||
Stampede Aviation | Healy/Denali NP | 2011 | |||||
Superior Air Charter | RSP | REDSTRIPE | 2006 | ||||
Superior Aviation | SO | HKA | SPEND AIR | Lansing | 1979 | ||
Talkeetna Air Taxi | Talkeetna | 1947 | Founded as Talkeetna Flying Service. | ||||
Tropic Ocean Airways | TI | FTO | WAGNER | Ft. Lauderdale | 2009 | ||
World Atlantic Airlines | K8 | WAL | WORLD ATLANTIC | Miami | 2002 | Founded as Caribbean Sun Airlines and commenced operations in 2003. | |
XOJET Aviation LLC | XOJ | XOJET | Sacramento–McClellan | 2006 |
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Primary hubs, secondary hubs | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AirMed International | Birmingham | 1987 | Founded as MEDjet International. | ||||
Air Methods | Denver–Centennial | 1980 | |||||
Critical Air Medicine | 1984 | ||||||
Lifestar | |||||||
Life Lion |
Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Primary hubs, secondary hubs | Founded | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Comco | 2002 | ||||||
Janet | WWW | JANET | Las Vegas | 1972 | |||
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System | JUD | JUSTICE | Oklahoma City | 1980 | Commenced operations in 1995. |
American Airlines is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by scheduled passengers carried, revenue passenger mile. American, together with its regional partners and affiliates, operates an extensive international and domestic network with almost 6,800 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in 48 countries. American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.
United Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. United operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and all six inhabited continents primarily out of its eight hubs, with Chicago–O'Hare having the largest number of daily flights and Denver carrying the most passengers in 2023. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express.
Delta Air Lines is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the United States' oldest operating airline and the seventh-oldest operating worldwide. Delta along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates, including Delta Connection, operates over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. As of the end of 2023, it had 100,000 employees.
Miami International Airport, also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami, Florida and its metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 185 domestic and international destinations, including most countries in Latin America. The airport is in an unincorporated area in Miami-Dade County, 8 miles (13 km) west-northwest of Downtown Miami, in metropolitan Miami, adjacent to the cities of Miami and Miami Springs, and the village of Virginia Gardens. Nearby cities include Hialeah, Doral, and the Census-designated place of Fontainebleau.
Lihue Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located in the Līhuʻe CDP on the southeast coast of the island of Kauaʻi in Kauai County, Hawaiʻi, United States, two nautical miles east of the center of the CDP.
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas region, in the U.S. state of Texas.
Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It served 12.4 million passengers annually in 2022, making it the busiest airport in Pennsylvania and the 21st-busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located 7 miles (11 km) from the city's downtown area and has 22 airlines that offer nearly 500 daily departures to more than 130 destinations worldwide.
Raleigh–Durham International Airport, locally known by its IATA code RDU, is an international airport that serves Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding Research Triangle region of North Carolina as its main airport. It is located in unincorporated Wake County, but is surrounded by the city of Raleigh to the north and east, and the towns of Cary and Morrisville to the south. The airport covers 5,000 acres (20 km2) and has three runways.
Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., branded as Copa Airlines, is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings and a member of the Star Alliance. The airline is owned by Copa Holdings, which also owns Colombian airline AeroRepública, which operates under the brands Wingo and Copa Airlines Colombia.
Cancún International Airport serves as the primary gateway for the Cancún Metropolitan Area in Quintana Roo, the Mexican Caribbean, Riviera Maya, and Yucatán Peninsula. Operating as a hub for Viva Aerobus and a focus city for Volaris and Magnicharters, it facilitates flights to over 100 cities across 30 countries in the Americas and Europe. The airport is managed by Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR) and is the easternmost airport in Mexico.
An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system. An airline may operate flights from several non-hub (spoke) cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could otherwise not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in which there are no hubs and nonstop flights are instead offered between spoke cities. Hub airports also serve origin and destination (O&D) traffic.
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide, UPS Airlines flies to 815 destinations worldwide. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service since its launch in 1988.
Southern Airways Express is a commuter airline operating across the United States with headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida. Southern Airways Express, commonly referred to as 'Southern', acts as a local service airline for dozens of cities across all U.S. time zones. The majority of Southern's routes are subsidized through the Essential Air Service program by the United States Department of Transportation.