Aviation History
The United States began the powered-flight era in 1903 when the Wright brothers flew the first controlled, sustained heavier-than-air flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Commercial aviation grew rapidly through airmail contracts in the 1920s, prompting the federal government to begin regulating the industry, first loosely and later comprehensively as the sector matured. The jet age arrived in the late 1950s, followed by the 1978 deregulation of domestic airline pricing and routes, which reshaped the US airline industry into a hub-and-spoke, competition-driven market. The September 11, 2001 attacks led to sweeping aviation security reforms. Today the US has the world's largest domestic aviation market and is home to major manufacturers (Boeing) and global carriers.
Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first controlled, sustained powered flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Congress passed the Air Commerce Act, giving the federal government authority to regulate civil aviation, license pilots and aircraft, and establish airways.
Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis nonstop from New York to Paris, the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight and a major boost to public interest in aviation.
Mergers of small airmail operators formed the predecessors of American Airlines and other national carriers; several, including United and Delta, trace their roots to this era.
The Boeing 707 entered transatlantic service around the same year Congress created the Federal Aviation Agency (later Administration) to oversee the increasingly complex, jet-powered airspace.
Southwest Airlines began service in Texas, pioneering a low-fare, point-to-point business model later copied by low-cost carriers worldwide.
The Airline Deregulation Act removed federal control over fares and routes, ending the Civil Aeronautics Board's authority and spurring new competition and hub-and-spoke networks.
The September 11 terrorist attacks, which used hijacked airliners, led to the creation of the Transportation Security Administration and a permanent overhaul of aviation security screening.
American Airlines · Delta Air Lines · United Airlines · Southwest Airlines · Pan American World Airways (historic)
General aviation history sources (FAA history, encyclopedic references); current airline market share and rankings may shift over time.
Aviation Firsts
College Park Airport — College Park, Maryland (1909): Established August 1909 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a flight-training site for Wilbur Wright; civilian flying began by December 1911. Operating continuously since. No serious domestic competing claim found (its 'world's oldest continuously operating airport' framing is a Guinness World Records title). · Wikipedia ↗
United Airlines (via Varney Air Lines) (1926): Traces to Varney Air Lines, first flight 6 April 1926; merged into Boeing Air Transport/United in 1931. · UA ↗ · View From The Wing (Gary Leff) ↗
American Airlines (via Robertson Aircraft Corporation) (1926): Traces to Robertson Aircraft Corporation, first airmail route July 1926; consolidated into American Airways in 1930 by E.L. Cord. · AA ↗ · View From The Wing (Gary Leff) ↗
Delta Air Lines (via Huff Daland Dusters) (1925): Markets a 1925/1924 founding via Huff Daland Dusters — a crop-dusting company, not an airline — renamed Delta Air Service in 1928, didn't carry passengers until 1929. Aviation journalists dispute counting a non-airline predecessor; Delta itself used 1929 as its founding year as recently as its 2004 75th-anniversary materials. · DL ↗ · View From The Wing (Gary Leff) ↗
Northwest Airways (merged into Delta 2008) (1926): Incorporated 1 September 1926, airmail from October 1926, passengers from 1927. Merged into Delta Air Lines in 2008. · NW ↗ · View From The Wing (Gary Leff) ↗
A genuine, documented dispute: United/American/Northwest all trace to 1926 predecessor companies, while Delta markets a 1924/1925 date via a crop-dusting company that wasn't an airline at all and didn't carry passengers until 1929 — aviation journalists explicitly dispute Delta's claim on that basis.
Swissport (Switzerland), 1999: Swissport acquired DynAir Holdings Inc. in July 1999 (from UK-based Alpha Airports Group), giving it 55 US airport stations. DynAir was itself previously owned by Alpha Airports Group (UK), meaning foreign ownership of a US ground handler may predate 1999, but no exact year for that prior ownership was confirmed. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Company-Histories.com ↗
Aviation Museums3
Fleet by Operator
Passengers by Operator
Annual Passenger Traffic by Airport
Airlines124
Live Air Traffic99 aircraft
Source: adsb.lol — community ADS-B network. Busiest of this country’s top 6 profiled airports by traffic right now, not a full national count.
Aircraft Spotted Here
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Photo: C. v. Grinsven via JetPhotos
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