US aviation market briefing
Latest flight data insights and analysis from America
August 2026
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US seat capacity, 2025 and 2026
US domestic & international capacity: 2025 vs 2026
Top 10 US airlines, August 2026
American Airlines remains the biggest carrier in the US this month with 21% of the market, operating 22.4m seats. Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines account for 19% and 18% share of the market respectively, with 20.3m and 18.8m seats in Aug 26.
Breeze Airways has increased capacity by 46%, 347,700 additional seats. This capacity growth is driven by the contined delivery of new fuel-efficient aircraft, strong demand in underserved secondary markets, and its recent launch of short-haul international leisure routes.
Alaska Airlines and Frontier Airlines, fifth and sixth biggest airlines, also increased capacity by 26% and 23% respectively vs last year.
Seat capacity by airline
| Airline | Seats | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | American Airlines | 22.40m | +2.0% |
| 2. | Delta Air Lines | 20.31m | +1.0% |
| 3. | Southwest Airlines | 18.83m | +1.0% |
| 4. | United Airlines | 18.39m | +5.0% |
| 5. | Alaska Airlines | 6.64m | +26.0% |
| 6. | Frontier Airlines | 4.27m | +23.0% |
| 7. | JetBlue Airways | 4.09m | +15.0% |
| 8. | Allegiant Air | 1.75m | 0.0% |
| 9. | Breeze Airways | 1.10m | +46.0% |
| 10. | Air Canada | 0.67m | +6.0% |
Source: OAG · August 2026 scheduled capacity
Alaska Airlines added the most seats this month, increasing seats by 1.4m vs Aug 25 - an increase of 26% year on year. Their capacity growth is driven by its international expansion strategy, integration with Hawaiian Airlines and fleet modernization.
United Airlines added 905,700 seats to 18.4m seats in Aug 26.
Top 10 US airports by seat capacity
The Top 10 busiest airports continue to account for 35.8% of capacity. Atlanta remains the biggest airport in capacity terms, with 5.4m seats. Capacity remains constant year on year.
Chicago O'Hare saw the largest increase in capacity again this month, adding 407,300 more seats vs Aug 25 to 5.1m seats.
Orlando and Las Vegas saw capacity fall most within the Top 10 this month, a reduction of 6% vs last year.
| No | Code | Airport | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ATL | Atlanta | 5.44m |
| 2. | ORD | Chicago O'Hare | 5.07m |
| 3. | DEN | Denver | 4.47m |
| 4. | DFW | Dallas Fort Worth | 4.41m |
| 5. | LAX | Los Angeles | 3.88m |
| 6. | JFK | New York JFK | 3.49m |
| 7. | SEA | Seattle-Tacoma | 3.06m |
| 8. | SFO | San Francisco | 3.01m |
| 9. | MCO | Orlando | 2.66m |
| 10. | LAS | Las Vegas | 2.64m |
Source: OAG August 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 352,600 seats, an increase in capacity of 27% vs Aug 25, 75,700 additional seats
New York La Guardia to Chicago is the second busiest route with 319,000 seats, a 9% increase in capacity year on year.
Boston to Chicago also saw capacity increase by over 20% this month vs Aug 25, 47,300 additional seats.
Capacity decreased most on the Las Vegas to Los Angeles route, declining by 20% vs Aug 25, 59,100 fewer seats.
Source: OAG · August 2026 scheduled capacity
States adding and removing most capacity
The state of Illinois continued to see the highest increase in seats this month, with 430,430 additional seats vs Aug 25. Illinois also increased capacity at the fastest rate, up 7.2%, followed by Massachusetts up 6.2%.
Capacity decreased most in the state of Florida this month, by 325,100 seats. Followed by New York State with 286,000 fewer seats in Aug 26.
Capacity change by US state — hover for details
- Illinois+430,430 seats (+7.2%)
- Massachusetts+154,800 seats (+6.2%)
- California+146,600 seats (+1.2%)
- Tennessee+96,400 seats (+4.7%)
- Pennsylvania+95,800 seats (+3.7%)
- Florida−325,100 seats (−3.1%)
- New York−286,000 seats (−3.1%)
- Michigan−190,300 seats (−8.2%)
- Nevada−152,500 seats (−4.9%)
- Maryland−103,600 seats (−7.1%)
US aviation market: common questions
Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser.
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Total US scheduled seat capacity in August 2026 is 121.2 million seats, down −0.5% vs August 2025. Domestic capacity increased by 0.6% to 91.7 million seats, while international capacity contracted by 3.6% to 29.5 million seats.