Busiest airlines, October 2026

127,162 flights, Southwest Airlines (WN)

The busiest airline in October 2026 was Southwest Airlines (WN), with 127,162 flights.

October 2026 (1–31 October 2026) Source: www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2026-10/

Period: 1–31 October 2026 (UTC). Data calculated on 3 November 2026 at 04:00 UTC. In the average departure delay, early and cancelled flights count as 0. How we calculate this

Top 15 airlines by flights
Busiest airlines, October 2026: top 15, flights1–31 October 2026. Source: Airportia.1. Southwest Airlines (WN): 127,162 (123,293 flights)1. Southwest Airlines (WN)127,1622. American Airlines (AA): 115,613 (111,765 flights)2. American Airlines (AA)115,6133. Delta Air Lines (DL): 108,389 (104,940 flights)3. Delta Air Lines (DL)108,3894. Ryanair (FR): 107,986 (104,515 flights)4. Ryanair (FR)107,9865. United Airlines (UA): 101,371 (98,211 flights)5. United Airlines (UA)101,3716. SkyWest Airlines (OO): 78,514 (76,050 flights)6. SkyWest Airlines (OO)78,5147. China Eastern Airlines (MU): 70,315 (68,098 flights)7. China Eastern Airlines (MU)70,3158. China Southern Airlines (CZ): 67,785 (65,646 flights)8. China Southern Airlines (CZ)67,7859. IndiGo Airlines (6E): 61,271 (59,332 flights)9. IndiGo Airlines (6E)61,27110. LATAM Airlines (LA): 53,645 (51,871 flights)10. LATAM Airlines (LA)53,64511. Air China (CA): 46,872 (45,406 flights)11. Air China (CA)46,87212. Turkish Airlines (TK): 41,659 (40,359 flights)12. Turkish Airlines (TK)41,65913. easyJet (U2): 39,104 (37,884 flights)13. easyJet (U2)39,10414. Alaska Airlines (AS): 34,405 (33,336 flights)14. Alaska Airlines (AS)34,40515. Lufthansa (LH): 32,521 (31,445 flights)15. Lufthansa (LH)32,521

Every airline with at least one flight in the period and reported departure times is included.

Full ranking: 815 airlines

The first 100 are shown here; the CSV has all 815.

# Airline Country Flights Avg departure delay Cancelled Flights
1 Southwest Airlines (WN) United States United States 127,162 32.5 min 0.5% 123,293
2 American Airlines (AA) United States United States 115,613 37.3 min 1.2% 111,765
3 Delta Air Lines (DL) United States United States 108,389 22.4 min 0.6% 104,940
4 Ryanair (FR) Ireland Ireland 107,986 28.4 min 0.1% 104,515
5 United Airlines (UA) United States United States 101,371 29.4 min 1.0% 98,211
6 SkyWest Airlines (OO) United States United States 78,514 30.6 min 0.1% 76,050
7 China Eastern Airlines (MU) China China 70,315 14.5 min 3.0% 68,098
8 China Southern Airlines (CZ) China China 67,785 14.5 min 0.3% 65,646
9 IndiGo Airlines (6E) India India 61,271 19.0 min 0.6% 59,332
10 LATAM Airlines (LA) Chile Chile 53,645 18.8 min 0.9% 51,871
11 Air China (CA) China China 46,872 14.7 min 2.0% 45,406
12 Turkish Airlines (TK) Turkey Turkey 41,659 31.9 min 1.5% 40,359
13 easyJet (U2) United Kingdom United Kingdom 39,104 27.6 min 2.1% 37,884
14 Alaska Airlines (AS) United States United States 34,405 24.5 min 1.7% 33,336
15 Lufthansa (LH) Germany Germany 32,521 24.1 min 0.4% 31,445
16 Envoy Air (MQ) United States United States 31,987 23.1 min 0.0% 30,949
17 Air Canada (AC) Canada Canada 31,865 16.0 min 2.8% 30,842
18 Japan Airlines (JL) Japan Japan 28,415 20.3 min 0.6% 27,492
19 AirAsia (AK) Malaysia Malaysia 27,338 14.5 min 0.3% 26,481
20 All Nippon Airways (NH) Japan Japan 26,742 19.3 min 0.7% 25,887
21 Azul Brazilian Airlines (AD) Brazil Brazil 25,582 16.9 min 2.3% 24,709
22 JetBlue Airways (B6) United States United States 25,416 28.3 min 0.5% 24,629
23 Air New Zealand (NZ) New Zealand New Zealand 25,401 18.2 min 1.8% 24,566
24 LATAM Airlines Brasil (JJ) Brazil Brazil 25,344 20.7 min 0.0% 24,508
25 SAS (SK) Norway Norway 24,179 15.3 min 0.7% 23,360
26 Endeavor Air (9E) United States United States 24,046 24.6 min 0.0% 23,237
27 British Airways (BA) United Kingdom United Kingdom 23,504 31.7 min 2.0% 22,756
28 KLM (KL) Netherlands Netherlands 23,229 22.6 min 3.8% 22,487
29 easyJet Europe (EC) Austria Austria 23,199 29.3 min 0.2% 22,467
30 PSA Airlines (OH) United States United States 23,137 29.7 min 0.1% 22,367
31 Air France (AF) France France 22,536 28.2 min 1.0% 21,789
32 Avianca (AV) Colombia Colombia 22,413 18.8 min 1.9% 21,714
33 Emirates (EK) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 21,973 29.1 min 1.5% 21,258
34 Pegasus Airlines (PC) Turkey Turkey 21,916 27.9 min 0.6% 21,240
35 Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) China China 21,309 13.7 min 2.8% 20,647
36 Aeroflot (SU) Russia Russia 21,261 40.4 min 4.1% 20,608
37 Republic Airlines (YX) United States United States 20,824 7.2 min 0.0% 20,126
38 Hainan Airlines (HU) China China 20,592 11.7 min 3.3% 19,974
39 GOL Transportes Aeros (G3) Brazil Brazil 20,211 16.9 min 0.8% 19,598
40 Qatar Airways (QR) Qatar Qatar 20,141 28.1 min 1.2% 19,507
41 Frontier Airlines (F9) United States United States 19,270 33.2 min 0.3% 18,771
42 Spring Airlines (9C) China China 18,908 20.3 min 0.7% 18,356
43 Xiamen Airlines (MF) China China 18,841 14.1 min 3.6% 18,252
44 Vueling (VY) Spain Spain 18,534 29.0 min 2.9% 18,009
45 Sichuan Airlines (3U) China China 18,289 11.7 min 2.1% 17,761
46 Eurowings (EW) Germany Germany 18,204 26.3 min 0.4% 17,660
47 Air India (AI) India India 17,607 23.8 min 1.1% 17,044
48 Shandong Airlines (SC) China China 17,571 11.5 min 0.6% 17,035
49 Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Ethiopia Ethiopia 17,509 27.0 min 0.5% 16,956
50 Wizz Air (W6) Hungary Hungary 17,400 29.0 min 0.5% 16,860
51 Wizz Air Malta (W4) Malta Malta 17,042 35.2 min 0.7% 16,563
52 Qantas (QF) Australia Australia 16,710 21.2 min 1.7% 16,026
53 WestJet (WS) Canada Canada 16,195 16.2 min 0.9% 15,700
54 Volaris (Y4) Mexico Mexico 15,686 17.1 min 0.8% 15,209
55 Virgin Australia (VA) Australia Australia 14,932 22.5 min 1.4% 14,428
56 Iberia (IB) Spain Spain 14,817 20.0 min 1.2% 14,323
57 Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV) Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 14,624 32.2 min 20.4% 14,093
58 Aeroméxico (AM) Mexico Mexico 14,588 21.9 min 0.3% 14,145
59 Jet2.com (LS) United Kingdom United Kingdom 14,149 32.1 min 0.1% 13,824
60 Cathay Pacific (CX) Hong Kong Hong Kong 14,126 33.2 min 0.5% 13,669
61 AJet (VF) Singapore Singapore 13,695 19.2 min 0.2% 13,289
62 VivaAerobus (VB) Mexico Mexico 13,539 23.8 min 1.7% 13,145
63 Air India Express (IX) India India 13,491 24.8 min 1.2% 13,047
64 Piedmont Airlines (PT) United States United States 13,363 33.0 min 0.1% 12,926
65 Copa Airlines (CM) Panama Panama 13,197 27.1 min 1.9% 12,772
66 Korean Air (KE) South Korea South Korea 13,185 25.0 min 0.1% 12,741
67 Swiss (LX) Switzerland Switzerland 12,965 27.9 min 0.7% 12,545
68 Vietnam Airlines (VN) Vietnam Vietnam 12,950 20.0 min 1.5% 12,558
69 Jetstar Airways (JQ) Australia Australia 12,283 29.8 min 2.1% 11,933
70 SunExpress (XQ) Turkey Turkey 11,902 25.7 min 0.2% 11,522
71 Allegiant Air (G4) United States United States 11,825 25.4 min 1.0% 11,659
72 Austrian Airlines (OS) Austria Austria 11,605 18.3 min 0.4% 11,236
73 Singapore Airlines (SQ) Singapore Singapore 11,583 27.8 min 0.9% 11,222
74 Transavia France (TO) France France 11,530 28.3 min 0.8% 11,170
75 Widerøe (WF) Norway Norway 11,399 6.7 min 3.2% 10,955
76 China Express Airlines (G5) China China 11,312 14.6 min 5.0% 10,949
77 CEBU Pacific Air (5J) Philippines Philippines 11,200 20.5 min 0.9% 10,844
78 Lion Airlines (JT) Indonesia Indonesia 11,077 17.5 min 0.0% 10,723
79 Finnair (AY) Finland Finland 11,049 17.5 min 0.6% 10,700
80 Aegean Airlines (A3) Greece Greece 10,875 24.6 min 0.2% 10,562
81 LOT (LO) Poland Poland 10,706 26.4 min 0.3% 10,347
82 ITA Airways (AZ) Italy Italy 10,664 31.1 min 0.7% 10,325
83 TAP Portugal (TP) Portugal Portugal 10,602 31.6 min 0.3% 10,285
84 VietJet Air (VJ) Vietnam Vietnam 10,443 32.6 min 0.1% 10,110
85 Juneyao Airlines (HO) China China 10,369 16.1 min 0.9% 10,045
86 Etihad Airways (EY) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 10,263 31.9 min 1.4% 9,931
87 Jazz Air (QK) Canada Canada 10,119 25.9 min 0.1% 9,803
88 Aerolineas Argentinas (AR) Argentina Argentina 9,793 39.3 min 0.8% 9,482
89 Thai AirAsia (FD) Thailand Thailand 9,630 22.4 min 0.1% 9,325
90 LAN Peru (LP) Peru Peru 9,517 16.1 min 0.0% 9,205
91 Shanghai Airlines (FM) China China 9,340 18.5 min 2.7% 9,037
92 Tianjin Airlines (GS) China China 9,317 11.8 min 12.1% 9,025
93 Batik Air (ID) Indonesia Indonesia 9,278 20.4 min 8.2% 8,982
94 Grant Aviation (GV) United States United States 9,209 4.0 min 0.0% 8,859
95 Philippine Airlines (PR) Philippines Philippines 9,195 21.1 min 3.0% 8,910
96 Malaysia Airlines (MH) Malaysia Malaysia 9,000 21.0 min 0.3% 8,719
97 Norwegian (DY) Norway Norway 8,753 14.9 min 0.4% 8,435
98 Chengdu Airlines (EU) China China 8,657 9.7 min 3.4% 8,385
99 flydubai (FZ) United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates 8,612 34.9 min 3.7% 8,333
100 GoJet (G7) United States United States 8,600 29.4 min 0.0% 8,324

Cite this

The busiest airline in October 2026 was Southwest Airlines (WN), with 127,162 flights. Source: Airportia, "Busiest airlines, October 2026" (1–31 October 2026), https://www.airportia.com/statistics/busiest-airlines/2026-10/, retrieved 3 November 2026.

Download the data (CSV)

Free to use, including commercially, under CC BY 4.0 : credit Airportia and link to this page. How to use our data. Press and data questions: contact@airportia.com.

How we calculate this

Which flights count
Every flight in Airportia's schedule data (from the Aviation Edge feed) that was scheduled to depart in the period, counted once: code-share listings of the same flight are left out. Days are UTC calendar days.
Departure delay
The actual departure time (or the latest reported estimate when no actual time came in) minus the scheduled departure time. A flight that left early or on time counts as 0 minutes. A flight with no reported departure time, cancelled flights included, also counts as 0, so where the feed is patchy the average is lower than the real one.
Average departure delay
The mean of those delays over all counted flights in the period. It is not the share of flights more than 15 minutes late (the usual on-time measure), and it is about departures, not arrivals.
Why there is no "most punctual" ranking
Because flights without a reported departure time count as 0 minutes, a low average can mean missing data rather than punctuality, and the stored figures do not say how many flights had a reported time. So we only rank the most delayed, and the delay rankings leave out every airport, airline or country whose average delay is exactly 0, which almost always means that no times were reported.
Cancellations
Flights with the status Cancelled, as a share of the counted flights in the period.
Airlines
Flights operated by the airline, wherever they depart from. Cargo airlines are not included. They have their own ranking, Busiest cargo airlines.
Period
A month combines three 10-day periods: days 1–10, 11–20 and the last ten days of the month, weighted by departures. In a 31-day month day 21 is not included; in February the second and third periods overlap by a day or two.
Minimum sample
Every airline with at least one flight in the period and reported departure times is included.

Coverage follows the schedule feed: some regional airports and airlines are missing or report few actual times. These are Airportia's own figures, not official statistics from airports, airlines or regulators.