According to Stock Analysis, Delta Air Lines has emerged as the world's largest airline by revenue, earning USD 6,336 crore annually.

However, private pilot Dr Omar Memon’s article published on Aerospace Global News inform that the airline earned USD 6,292 crore while operating more than 5 thousand 500 daily flights to 325 airports across 53 countries.

Wrong and unverified information was published about the airline in Bangladeshi mass media. International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its latest outlook on December 9 last year. Private pilot Luke Peters wrote in his article published on Aerospace Global News that this year industry revenues are forecast to reach 1,05,300 crore.

Delta Air Lines originated from Huff Daland Dusters (founded 1925, reorganized as Delta in 1928), is headquartered in Atlanta with about 1 lakh to 1 lakh 5 thousand employees and nine major hubs led by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and modernizes its fleet with Airbus 350-1000s (deliveries from 2026) and Boeing 787-10s (from 2031).

Travel and Hospitality Technology Consulting company Altexsoft’s January 21 report informed; United Airlines’ revenue was USD 5,910 crore in 202. But Dr Memon ranked United Airlines Holdings in the second position with USD 5,836 crore (source not mentioned) which operates the world's largest commercial fleet of around 1 thousand 50 mainline aircraft from eight U.S. hubs serving over 390 destinations worldwide.

In his recent New Year’s letter to staff, airline’s CEO Scott Kirby said that it will take delivery of more than 100 narrow-body aircraft such as A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX 9 in 2026 as well as 20 double-aisle Boeing 787 this year under informed by Edward Russell in his January 6 writing published on The Points Guy.

Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, it is the world’s largest airline by passenger volume, carrying more than 200 million passengers annually. Founded in 1930, the airline operates about 6,000 daily flights to over 350 destinations across more than 50 countries, using a fleet of approximately 1,927 aircraft, according to CIRIUM (American Airline Newsroom). Under CEO Robert Isom, the company is focusing on cabin upgrades while working to reduce its debt burden. For the quarter ending in September, the U.S. carrier reported a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss. According to data compiled by LSEG (reported in Reuters), the airline lost money, but not as much as experts thought it would. Experts (analysts) expected the company to lose 28 cents for each share. But the actual loss was only 17 cents per share.

Lufthansa ranks fourth globally by 2025 revenue with USD 3,420 crore (Altexsoft) as Europe’s largest airline group operating to over 330 destinations in 100 countries primarily from Frankfurt and Munich hubs, according to Lufthansa Group.

But, Dr Memon informed that Lufthansa Group, a conglomerate, has a market capitalisation of USD 1,183 crore in 2025, wrote Dr Memon. The group comprises various European carriers including Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines.

International Airlines Group (IAG) ranked fifth with USD 3,738 crore revenue (Companiesmarketcap). British-Spanish multinational owns British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Level. Group serves over 259 destinations in 91 countries with more than 601 aircraft, carrying around 11 crore 30 lakh passengers annually (popular signal-based automated sales platform Bitscale). Notably, IAG holds a 25.1 percent stake in Qatar Airways as informed by them officially in 2020.

Stock market quotes & financial news platform Investing reported, Air France-KLM Group ranks sixth globally by 2025 revenue with about USD 109 crore 27 lakh (EUR 920 crore), operating 564 aircraft to over 320 destinations in 90 countries from key hubs including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Amsterdam Schiphol (official website).

Subscription-based stock research and analysis tool InvestingPro reported, China Southern Airlines ranked seventh with USD 2,449 crore (CNY 19,370 crore) revenue. This was also confirmed by companiesmarketcap. Asia’s largest airline by fleet size operates more than 800 aircraft (official webiste) from Guangzhou Baiyun and Beijing Daxing hubs, serving 224 destinations in 40 countries with more than 2,000 daily flights (TAL Aviation Group).

Southwest Airlines placed eighth earning USD 2,755 crore (companiesmarketcap). Dallas-based carrier operates 810 Boeing 737 aircraft serving more than 100 destinations (as of November 2023 official data). Company carried 14 crore passengers in 2024 (SWA Newsroom). Southwest announced policy changes including assigned seating from 2026 and removal of free checked baggage.

Premier research platform for long term investors Macrotrends reported, Air China Limited ranked ninth with USD 1,476 crore 10 lakh revenue. Beijing-based national flag carrier operates more than 532 aircraft (official data) serving over 1,150 destinations worldwide (official Facebook post) from Beijing Capital and Chengdu Tianfu airports.

China Eastern Airlines completed top 10 with USD 2,464 crore revenue. Shanghai-based carrier operates fleet of more than 800 aircraft, flying to 1000 destinations across 160 countries (official data).