Number of U.S. air carriers 1995-2024
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.