United Airlines takes top fleet spot
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Ranking the top 20 airlines by fleet seats
There are many ways to measure the largest airline. This week, we look at the number of seats in the fleet. It should come as a surprise to no subscribers of this newsletter that United Airlines has taken over the top spot.
The metric looks at total seats in the active fleet focused on operating airlines. That means regional or subsidiary airlines don’t count. Well, they do, just not towards the parent airline.
This is especially meaningful for United Airlines which controls a sizeable regional aircraft fleet as well, operated by other regional airlines. Despite not counting seats deployed by a large regional presence, the top three airlines remain United, American, and Delta, with Southwest Airlines remaining consistently in the fourth position.
We have noted some airlines expected to have moved up in the rankings. In particular, Turkish Airways and IndiGo Airlines have been in growth mode. Still, Turkish remained in 9th position, while IndiGo actually dropped from 12th to 14th. Since this metric considers active seats in the fleet, IndiGo still suffers from GTF issues, keeping some aircraft (and their seats) on the ground.
Qatar Airways and Ryanair are both in growth mode, increasing fleets relative to competitors, while JetBlue and Alaska take some needed breathers.
However, one airline rocketed (back) into 17th position. This airline caught our interest, especially considering its circumstances over the past five years.
Which airline is at number 17?
The answer:
Cathay Pacific has returned.
Cathay’s year-over-year change in fleet seats is especially notable. The airline increased the number of seats in its active fleet by over 38%, jumping eight places to 17th largest operating fleet.
This is especially notable considering the airline’s challenges prior to COVID, then COVID, then Zero COVID.
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