Which US airline is most profitable?

The most profitable passenger airline in North America in 2022 was Delta Air Lines, with operating revenue of almost 50.6 billion U.S. dollars, followed closely by American Airlines, with nearly 49 billion U.S. dollars in revenue.



As of the full-year 2025 financial reports released in early 2026, Delta Air Lines maintains its position as the most profitable major U.S. carrier by raw revenue and total market capitalization. Delta reported a trailing twelve-month revenue of approximately $62.9 billion and pretax earnings of $6.57 billion, a significant lead over its competitors. United Airlines has emerged as a very close second, entering 2026 with an "earnings edge" in net income (reported at $3.4 billion for 2025) and a more flexible balance sheet compared to American Airlines, which, despite high revenues of $54.6 billion, reported a much thinner GAAP net income of $111 million due to higher debt and operational costs. While Southwest Airlines remains the king of the low-cost sector, it saw a 24% dip in earnings in 2025 as it began a major business model revamp. In the current 2026 market, Delta's "premium-heavy" strategy and massive hub efficiency in Atlanta continue to make it the gold standard for financial performance and investor confidence in the aviation industry.

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1 Delta Air Lines The prize for the most profitable airline in the world goes to none other than Delta Air Lines. The Atlanta-based megacarrier recorded a net income of $3.6 billion in 2022, marking a margin of 7.8%, down only slightly from 2019.

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Airlines will fly more than 4.5 billion passengers this year to generate that $28 billion. That's an average of just over $6 of profit a passenger.

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Delta brought in adjusted revenue of nearly $14.6 billion for the period, up 13% year over year and in line with analysts' expectations. Net income for the period was $1.11 billion, or $1.72 per share, up 59% from $695 million, or $1.08 per share, during the same period a year earlier.

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Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport remains the busiest airport in the world with 5.2 million seats in September 2023. The composition of the Global Top 10 Busiest Airports is also the same as last month but there are a few changes to the rankings.

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Southwest's third-quarter profit slipped from $277 million a year ago and, excluding special items, worked out to 38 cents per share. That matched Wall Street expectations, according to a FactSet survey of analysts. Revenue rose $305 million, or 5%, to $6.52 billion, just short of projections for $6.56 billion.

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Institutional investors hold a majority ownership of DAL through the 72.70% of the outstanding shares that they control.

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The top 10 safest airlines 2023
  • Qantas.
  • Air New Zealand.
  • Etihad Airways.
  • Qatar Airways.
  • Singapore Airlines.
  • TAP Air Portugal.
  • Emirates.
  • Alaska Airlines.


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Based on 450 annual owner-operated hours and $6.00-per-gallon fuel cost, the BOEING 737-700 has total variable costs of $2,996,910.00, total fixed costs of $357,370.00, and an annual budget of $3,354,280.00. This breaks down to $7,453.96 per hour.

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Annual Pilot Salary Range How Much Do Pilots Make an Hour? » According to The May 2021 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary for commercial pilots is $99,640 per year. The median annual wage for airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers is $202,180.

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Most importantly, cargo pays well. It represents between 15%-20% of the average airline's earnings. Though that may not seem a lot, once a flight covers its costs with passenger capacity, any income from cargo goes to profits.

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