US aviation market briefing
Latest flight data insights and analysis from America
October 2026
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US seat capacity, 2025 and 2026
US domestic & international capacity: 2025 vs 2026
Top 10 US airlines, October 2026
American Airlines remains the biggest carrier in the US this month with 22% of the market, operating 23.4m seats. Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines both represent 19% share of the market, with 20.2m and 20.3m seats in October 26.
Breeze Airways has increased capacity by 44% (345,000 additional seats) and is 9th largest airline in October 26.
The top 4 carriers account for 77% of the market.
Seat capacity by airline
| Airline | Seats | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | American Airlines | 23.41m | +6.0% |
| 2. | Southwest Airlines | 20.27m | +3.0% |
| 3. | Delta Air Lines | 20.15m | +2.0% |
| 4. | United Airlines | 18.70m | +7.0% |
| 5. | Alaska Airlines | 6.28m | +32.0% |
| 6. | Frontier Airlines | 3.97m | +12.0% |
| 7. | JetBlue Airways | 3.52m | +10.0% |
| 8. | Allegiant Air | 1.97m | +8.0% |
| 9. | Breeze Airways | 1.13m | +44.0% |
| 10. | Air Canada | 0.65m | 0.0% |
Source: OAG · October 2026 scheduled capacity
Alaska Airlines added the most seats again this month, increasing seats by 1.5m vs October 25 - an increase of 32% year on year. The carrier has been able to use its combined fleet/network more efficiently following the Hawaiian acquisition and is also pursuing a much more ambitious international strategy, particularly across the Pacific, as part of its "Alaska Accelerate" strategy
American Airlines added 1.4m seats and United Airlines added 1.2m seats in October 26.
Top 10 US airports by seat capacity
The Top 10 busiest airports continue to account for 35.4% of capacity. Atlanta remains the biggest airport in capacity terms, with 5.4m seats. Capacity remained constant year on year.
Chicago O'Hare saw the largest increase in capacity again this month, adding 362,500 more seats vs October 25 to 5m seats.
| No | Code | Airport | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ATL | Atlanta | 5.44m |
| 2. | ORD | Chicago O'Hare | 5.00m |
| 3. | DFW | Dallas Fort Worth | 4.56m |
| 4. | DEN | Denver | 4.40m |
| 5. | LAX | Los Angeles | 3.86m |
| 6. | SFO | San Francisco | 3.03m |
| 7. | JFK | New York JFK | 3.03m |
| 8. | LAS | Las Vegas | 2.92m |
| 9. | MCO | Orlando | 2.90m |
| 10. | PHX | Phoenix Sky Harbor | 2.85m |
Source: OAG October 2026 · hover chart or click a table row to cross-highlight
Top 10 busiest US domestic routes
The busiest route again this month is Los Angeles to San Francisco with 370,400 seats, an increase in capacity of 28% vs last October (82,100 additional seats).
New York La Guardia to Chicago is the second busiest route with 327,700 seats, a 2% increase in capacity year on year.
Los Angeles to Chicago saw the largest percentage increase of 31% this month vs Oct 25 (68,800 additional seats).
Capacity decreased by 7% on the Las Vegas to Los Angeles route, the 9th busiest route in October 26.
Source: OAG · October 2026 scheduled capacity
States adding and removing most capacity
The state of California added the most seats this month, with 497,650 additional seats vs Oct 25. Oregon increased capacity at the fastest rate, up 11.3%, followed by Illinois up 6.8% vs last year.
Capacity decreased most in the state of New York again this month, by 260,900 seats. The state of New Jersey saw the biggest percentage decrease of 53.9% vs last year (26,200 fewer seats).
Capacity change by US state — hover for details
- California+497,648 seats (+4.1%)
- Illinois+399,700 seats (+6.8%)
- Florida+323,768 seats (+3.1%)
- Texas+154,433 seats (+1.4%)
- Oregon+138,758 seats (+11.3%)
- New York−260,878 seats (−3.0%)
- Louisiana−86,110 seats (−8.9%)
- Michigan−84,429 seats (−3.9%)
- Maryland−58,494 seats (−4.0%)
- New Jersey−26,154 seats (−53.9%)
US aviation market: common questions
Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser.
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Total US scheduled seat capacity in October 2026 is 120.4 million seats, up 1.8% vs October 2025. Domestic capacity increased by 2.3% to 94.1 million seats, while international capacity contracted by 0.2% to 26.2 million seats.