Airlines in the world are measured using several metrics. However, one of the simplest metrics to determine an airline’s size is measuring its fleet. Carriers across the world are struggling to increase the number of aircraft in their fleets. The reason for this struggle is that a larger fleet translates to covering more routes, increasing frequency, as well as carrying more passengers. But which of these airlines is the largest in terms of size? We answer the question here.
Airlines with the largest fleet in the world
Data from Planespotters.net shows that American Airlines has the largest fleet of aircraft in the world. The count of airships to be precise is 913, with 13 more to be added later. It should be noted that this number does not include aircraft owned by subsidiaries of American Airlines.
Read also: Aviation Explained: Why is Nepal’s aviation industry prone to plane crashes? expert opinion
To add more details about the carrier, American Airlines was founded in 1930 and has nearly a century of history to back it up. Since we mentioned history, the Texas-based airline began as a mail carrier and grew to become one of the largest airlines in the world. Furthermore, according to the airline’s website they operate approximately 6,700 flights daily covering 350 destinations in 50 countries.
American Airlines Fleet: Narrowbodies
The major portion of American Airlines’ fleet consists of narrow-body aircraft with 800 aircraft in the fleet. The type can now be further divided into Airbus and Boeing aircraft, with 455 built by the former and 345 by the latter.
The Boeing 737-800 is the most widely used airplane in the world’s largest fleet. In total, American Airlines operates 345 Boeing 737 aircraft, of which 303 are the -800 model and 42 are the newest, more productive 737 Max 8. The Max 8 model has an average lifespan of 3.3 years, compared to the -800 model. 12.6 years on average.
American Airlines is an Airbus customer and flies 455 Airbus A320s. The 455 Airbus aircraft are divided by American into 133 A319-100s (commonly referred to as babybuses), 48 A320-200s, 218 A321-200s and 56 A321neo.
American Airlines Fleet: Widebody
American Airlines operates a large fleet of all Boeing aircraft, split between the newer Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the larger 777. The airline has 67 Boeing 777 aircraft, 47 of the -200 variant and 20 of the -300ER variant. The remaining 46 aircraft in its wide-size fleet are split between 24 787-8s and 22 787-9s. In total, American has 113 widebody aircraft in its fleet.