Types of airlines, what are they? All the airlines are different and have their own classification and features depending on the country. The United States’ different airlines are owned privately or publicly. In many countries the airlines are owned by the government.

How many types of airlines are there?

There are 3 types of airlines in the world:

• Major
• National
• Regional

Such classification is based on the revenue generated by the airline. Depending on the total amount the US federal government assigns 1of 3 categories to the airlines operating in US.

What is the difference between the types of the airlines?

The difference in 3 categories of the airlines are the routes. As a rule, large airline companies will offer the flights to more destinations and the routes will be longer.

Major airlines type

This type of airlines will have:

• At least $1 billion income per annum
• Are major employers among the airlines
• Will be often mentioned in the news

As of 2000 12 major airlines existed:

1. Alaska
2. America West
3. American
4. American Eagle
5. American Trans Air
6. Continental
7. Delta
8. Northwest
9. Southwest
10. Trans World
11. United Airways
12. US Airways

These 12 airlines are the biggest employers among the airlines. For example, Alaska employs 9000 people, Delta airlines more than 77000, United Airlines about 97000 people.

National airlines type

National Airlines are the airlines, which operate in certain regions and countries, serve long distance flights and international flights. The average operating income of national airlines per year is approximately $100 000 000 and up to 1 billion dollars. These types of airlines have large and medium size jets.

The National airlines are:

• Aloha
• Atlas Air
• Airtran
• Evergreen
• Hawaiian
• Emery Worldwide
• Midwest Express

Since National Airlines are smaller, they have less employees accordingly, 2300 – 3400 on average.

Regional airlines

Regional airlines operate in certain regions of the USA. These types of airlines are divided into:
Large regionals – airlines which have scheduled flights and the average income of up to $100 million. Large regional airlines operate aircrafts for more than 60 people.

Medium regional airlines operate smaller aircrafts and have average annual income of about $20 million.
Small regional airlines – this is a “commuter airlines” type and they do not have a particular income margin. Small regional airlines do not have large aircrafts, they serve planes with maximum 61 passengers capacity.

World best Airlines 2021

For many businesses, including aviation, 2021 has been quite a challenging year.
But traveling by air remains one of the most popular and convenient ways to travel and AirlineRatings.com has announced its annual round-up for the world best carriers 2021.

Qatar Airways is number one airline in the list of world’s best Airlines 2021. Excellent services and commitment to the passengers helped Qatar Airways to move from the 2nd place of the world best airlines 2020 to the top 2021 World Best Airlines.

According to AirlineRatings.com the best 20 airlines for 2021 are:

1. Qatar Airways
2. Air New Zealand
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Qantas
5. Emirates
6. Cathay Pacific
7. Virgin Atlantic
8. United Airlines
9. EVA Air
10. British Airways
11. Lufthansa
12. ANA
13. Finnair
14. Japan Air Lines
15. KLM
16. Hawaiian Airlines
17. Alaska Airlines
18. Virgin Australia
19. Delta Air Lines
20. Etihad Airways

The World’s Biggest Airlines

Find out more about the international airport abbreviations and how to book flights online.