Number of U.S. air carriers 1995-2024

The United States has 58 air carriers as of 2023, with the majority, 38 air carriers, being medium and small, with a maximum revenue of one billion dollars. Meanwhile, the number of air carriers with revenue more than one billion dollars was 20 in that year.

Major air carriers

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation, major air carriers are commercial airlines generating over one billion U.S. dollars in operating revenue per year. The number of major air carriers can therefore change through smaller airlines growing, as well as through new carriers being created, or existing carriers exiting the market (including through mergers, notably the merger between US Airways and American Airlines in October 2015). This threshold is set such that the majority of the U.S. market is serviced by carriers designated as major, with the top 10 carriers alone accounting for over 90 percent of the domestic market.