US aviation market briefing
Latest flight data insights and analysis from America
November 2026
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US seat capacity, 2025 and 2026
US domestic & international capacity: 2025 vs 2026
Top 10 US airlines, November 2026
American Airlines remains the biggest carrier in the US this month with 22% of the market, operating 21.8m seats.
Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines represent 19% and 18% share of the market respectively, with 19.4m and 18.7m seats in Nov 26.
Breeze Airways has increased capacity by 42% (334,600 additional seats) and remains 9th largest airline in Nov 26.
The top 4 carriers account for 77% of the market.
Seat capacity by airline
| Airline | Seats | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | American Airlines | 21.81m | +5.0% |
| 2. | Southwest Airlines | 19.38m | +4.0% |
| 3. | Delta Air Lines | 18.67m | +1.0% |
| 4. | United Airlines | 17.76m | +7.0% |
| 5. | Alaska Airlines | 6.00m | +29.0% |
| 6. | Frontier Airlines | 3.86m | +9.0% |
| 7. | JetBlue Airways | 3.57m | +6.0% |
| 8. | Allegiant Air | 1.88m | +12.0% |
| 9. | Breeze Airways | 1.12m | +42.0% |
| 10. | Air Canada | 0.61m | 0.0% |
Source: OAG · November 2026 scheduled capacity
Alaska Airlines added the most seats again this month, increasing seats by 1.4m vs Nov 25 - an increase of 29% year on year as a result of the Hawaiian acquisition.
United Airlines added 1.2m seats and American Airlines added 1.1m seats in Nov 26.
Top 10 US airports by seat capacity
The Top 10 busiest airports account for 35.3% of capacity.
Atlanta remains the biggest airport in capacity terms, with 5.1m seats, despite a capacity reduction of 1% vs Nov 25.
Chicago O'Hare saw the largest increase in capacity again this month, adding 476,400 more seats vs Nov 25 to 4.6m seats.
| No | Code | Airport | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ATL | Atlanta | 5.07m |
| 2. | ORD | Chicago O'Hare | 4.64m |
| 3. | DFW | Dallas Fort Worth | 4.25m |
| 4. | DEN | Denver | 4.03m |
| 5. | LAX | Los Angeles | 3.80m |
| 6. | MCO | Orlando | 2.86m |
| 7. | SFO | San Francisco | 2.84m |
| 8. | JFK | New York JFK | 2.82m |
| 9. | PHX | Phoenix Sky Harbor | 2.81m |
| 10. | MIA | Miami | 2.70m |
Source: OAG November 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 380,300 seats, an increase in capacity of 38% vs Nov25 (105,600 additional seats). Capacity introduced by Alaska Airlines represents almost two thirds of the increase.
New York La Guardia to Chicago is the second busiest route with 328,300 seats, a 10% increase in capacity year on year.
Chicago-San Francisco made the largest percentage increase of 46% this month vs Nov 25 (74,400 additional seats).
Capacity decreased by 12% on the Las Vegas to Los Angeles route, taking it out of the top 10 routes to 12th busiest route in Nov 26.
Source: OAG · November 2026 scheduled capacity
States adding and removing most capacity
The state of California added the most seats again this month, with 802,400 additional seats vs Nov 25. Major airports in the state: Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego have upgraded terminals, expanded gates and introduced biometric check-in to handle increased passenger volumes.
Illinois increased capacity at the fastest rate, up 9.8%, followed by Tennessee up 9% vs last year.
Capacity decreased most in the state of New York again this month, by 251,400 seats. The state of Louisiana made the biggest percentage decrease of 6.2% vs last year (55,500 fewer seats).
Capacity change by US state — hover for details
- California+802,410 seats (+6.9%)
- Illinois+515,845 seats (+9.8%)
- Tennessee+175,669 seats (+9.0%)
- Florida+138,978 seats (+1.2%)
- Massachusetts+137,501 seats (+6.7%)
- New York−251,414 seats (−3.1%)
- Louisiana−55,546 seats (−6.2%)
- Georgia−47,678 seats (−0.9%)
- Michigan−37,995 seats (−1.9%)
- North Carolina−19,562 seats (−0.5%)
US aviation market: common questions
Data is sourced from OAG's Schedules Analyser.
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Total US scheduled seat capacity in November 2026 is 113.9 million seats, up 1.8% vs November 2025. Domestic capacity increased by 2.8% to 88.9 million seats, while international capacity contracted by 1.4% to 25.0 million seats.