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US-based low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines is unique in several ways. The carrier is unquestionably the leader in low-cost aviation in the United States, much akin to Ryanair in Europe. The airline is the only carrier operating in the United States with a market share that comes even close to matching airlines like United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines. Competitors like Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, and Spirit Airlines simply come nowhere close to matching the size and scope of Southwest’s operations. Furthermore, the carrier is the only such airline in the United States to have a loyalty program anywhere close in membership to that of the big three airlines.
Southwest Airlines arguably created the low-cost airline business model in the United States, and it grew just as drastically as its full-service competitors when it comes to inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions. Nonetheless, there are very few metrics for which Southwest would rank as the largest carrier in the United States, with one very noteworthy exception.
If you are to look at which airline has the largest fleet of aircraft or serves the most destinations, Chicago-based full-service network carrier United Airlines would emerge as the market’s leader. When it comes to many financial metrics, such as revenue generated or market capitalization (the collective value of all outstanding shares in a company), Delta Air Lines, based out of Atlanta, would emerge as your leader. When it comes to metrics of how many passengers an airline carries in a given year or how many people an airline employs American Airlines would emerge as your largest airline.
