Why US airlines do not operate world’s longest commercial flight routes

A review of current ultra-long-haul routes shows that many flights between Asia or Oceania and US cities are among the world’s longest. However, none of these top ten longest flights are operated by US airlines. Instead, carriers such as Air New Zealand, Qantas, Air India, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines dominate these routes using aircraft like the A350-900ULR, A350-1000, 787-9 Dreamliner, and Boeing 777-200LR.

Only Singapore Airlines operates the A350-900ULR today; it has seven of these jets in service. The aircraft can fly up to 9,700 nautical miles (18,000 km), exceeding the range capabilities of other long-range planes used by US airlines such as the Boeing 777-200LR or former models like the A340-500. American carriers have shown little interest in acquiring this jet because its extended range does not suit their domestic or transatlantic operations.

The extended range of the A350-900ULR comes from an increased maximum takeoff weight and larger fuel capacity—44,000 US gallons compared to 37,000 for other variants—achieved without major structural changes. While Persian Gulf airlines showed some interest in this model in 2015 and Qatar Airways considered it briefly in 2018 before opting for different aircraft types instead.

In addition to its technical capabilities for long-distance flying, features designed for passenger comfort include higher ceilings, larger windows, wide-body cabins with advanced lighting systems aimed at reducing jet lag. The carbon composite airframe also helps maintain optimal cabin altitude and humidity levels during lengthy journeys. On delivery of its first A350-900ULR aircraft Goh Choon Phong stated: “The A350-900ULR will bring more convenience and comfort to our customers and will enable us to operate ultra-long-range flights in a commercially viable manner. It will help us boost our network competitiveness and further grow the Singapore hub.”

Onboard these nearly 20-hour flights from Singapore to New York there are only premium seating options: business class seats (67) and premium economy seats (94). Business class offers lie-flat beds with seatback entertainment screens while premium economy provides wider seats with greater recline than standard economy plus personal entertainment screens.

While no US airline currently operates such long international routes due mainly to equipment limitations and lack of demand for such niche markets domestically they continue leading on long domestic segments within America itself. For example earlier this year American Airlines announced plans to resume nonstop Chicago O’Hare–Honolulu service using a Boeing 787-8—a journey spanning about 3,687 nautical miles (6,828 km). Previously American flew even longer domestic routes such as Charlotte–Honolulu (4,065 nautical miles) though that service ended after less than a year.

Other notable long domestic routes by American include Dallas/Fort Worth–Honolulu (3,288 nautical miles) usually flown daily with a Boeing 777-200ER as well as Phoenix–Honolulu (2,535 nautical miles) primarily served by an Airbus A321neo along with additional Hawaii destinations from mainland hubs like Anchorage or Miami.

Singapore Airlines remains headquartered at Changi Airport since its founding in 1972 under CEO Goh Choon Phong as part of Star Alliance.