Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, 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.
Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major American airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Midwest Airlines was a U.S.-based airline headquartered in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, that operated from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport between 1984 and 2010. For a short time, it also operated as a brand of Republic Airways Holdings.
Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico, London and Nassau. Western had hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver. Before it merged with Delta Air Lines in 1987 it was headquartered at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Throughout the company's history, their slogan was "Western Airlines...The Only Way to Fly!"
ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was an American low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights throughout the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Portugal as well as military and commercial charter flights around the world. In its early days the airline flew charters on a worldwide basis and had bases in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis, Oakland and Milwaukee. Later when it entered scheduled service the airline maintained focus cities at Chicago Midway International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
Hawaiian Airlines is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airline operates its main hub at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on the island of Oʻahu and a secondary hub out of Kahului Airport on the island of Maui. The airline also maintained a crew base at Los Angeles International Airport. Hawaiian Airlines operates flights to Asia, American Samoa, Australia, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, and the United States mainland. Hawaiian Airlines is owned by Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. of which Peter R. Ingram is the current president and chief executive officer.
Continental Express was the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2012 at the time of the merger between Continental and United Airlines, two carriers were operating using the Continental Express brand name:
El Paso International Airport is four miles (6 km) northeast of downtown El Paso, in El Paso County, Texas, United States. It is the largest civil airport in West Texas. It handled 3,516,911 passengers in 2019.
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing operating costs and without some of the traditional services and amenities provided in the fare, resulting in lower fares and fewer comforts. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge extra fees – such as for carry-on baggage. As of April 2020, the world's largest low-cost carrier is Southwest Airlines, which operates primarily in the United States, as well as in some surrounding areas.
Spirit Airlines Inc. is a major American ultra-low-cost carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States and in the Caribbean and Latin America. Spirit was the eighth largest passenger carrier in North America as of 2020, as well as the largest ultra-low-cost carrier in North America.
Allegiant Air is an American ultra-low-cost airline that operates scheduled and charter flights. It is a major air carrier, the fourteenth-largest commercial airline in North America.
Avelo Airlines is an American ultra low-cost carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as Casino Express Airlines and Xtra Airways, before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebranding as Avelo Airlines on April 8, 2021. The airline's first scheduled flight under the Avelo name was on April 28, 2021, from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport.
Freelandia was a low-cost counter-culture airline company owned by founder Kenneth Moss that operated in 1973 and the beginning of 1974. The company operated an aircraft that flew between various destinations, but in an attempt to avoid regulation by the Civil Aeronautics Board, the company did not call itself an airline. Instead, it positioned itself as a travel club, with paid members who voted where the aircraft would fly. It operated only one leased DC-8-21, but lower than expected sales caused the company to cease operations in 1974 after its aircraft was repossessed for non-payment. After its demise, the company and its founder were charged with false advertising and fraudulent business practices by the State of California.
Muse Air was a domestic U.S. airline founded in 1981, headquartered near Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas, later moving to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Southwest Airlines acquired Muse Air in 1985 and later renamed it TranStar Airlines, but it was unprofitable, and was shut down in 1987.
Provincetown-Boston Airlines was an airline that operated between 1949 and 1989. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States before its purchase by People Express Airlines and then eventual consolidation with other commuter airlines into Continental Express, now United Express after the merger of Continental Airlines and United Airlines.
Frontier Airlines was an American airline formed by a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. Headquartered at the now-closed Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado, the airline ceased operations on August 24, 1986. A new airline was founded eight years later in 1994 using the same name.
Lone Star Airlines was an American regional airline that operated both domestic and international flights. For much of the airline's life its headquarters were located in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas. The airline's largest hub was located at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The airline filed for bankruptcy in August, 1998 and was liquidated in October, 1998.
Inflight smoking refers to smoking tobacco on an aircraft while in flight. While once prevalent, it is now prohibited by almost all airlines and by many governments around the world. The bans on inflight smoking have been imposed in a piecemeal manner around the world beginning in the 1980s. The use of electronic cigarettes is also prohibited on many flights.
Intrastate airlines in the U.S. are defined as air carriers operating inside of one individual state and thus not flying across state lines. Larger intrastate airlines in the U.S. that operated mainline turboprop and/or jet aircraft were created as a result of former federal airline regulations, as passenger air carriers that only flew intrastate service were not regulated by the federal government but were instead primarily regulated by the respective state governments in their home states. For example, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and Air California were both regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) prior to the federal Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Although intrastate airlines in some states used only turboprop aircraft, scheduled passenger service on jet aircraft was operated by intrastate air carriers in California, Florida, Hawaii and Texas.
