American joins United in the 'club of 1,000' and Delta will soon be next. Chasing the three US 'biggies' only Southwest

American Airlines is the second airline in the history of commercial aviation to join the 'club of a thousand'. A club that could not be more exclusive, since, indeed, counts to date only two vettori, both from the United States: American and United Airlines, which had crossed the finish line at the end of last January.

The Dallas Fort Worth-based airline touched 1,000 aircraft in its fleet a few days ago when its eighth Boeing 787-9 landed at its Fort Worth hub featuring the new cabins that include the carrier's newest Business Class, called Flagship Suite.

American had ended the years 2023 and 2024 with a fleet of 965 and 977 airplanes, respectively, and plans by the end of the year to reach 1,014. Among them will be 132 Airbus A319s, 48 Airbus A320s, 218 Airbus A321s, 84 Airbus A321neo, 5 Airbus A321XLRs, 303 Boeing 737-800s, 87 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, 47 Boeing 777-200ERs, 20 Boeing 777-300ERs, 37 Boeing 787-8s, and 33 Boeing 787-9s.

Excluded from the count are the 566 'regional' aircraft operating under the American Eagle brand, among which are 122 CRJ-700, 86 CRJ-900, 70 ERJ145, 56 ERJ170 and 232 ERJ175.

By the end of this year, American expects the arrival of 5 more aircraft from the A320neo family, 10 from the Boeing 737 MAX family, and 7 Dreamliners. With 'older' aircraft exits, the total is expected to stand at 1,014 aircraft. The U.S. carrier's plans call for between now and 2028 (and beyond). the entry of 101 more aircraft from the A320neo family, 115 from the Boeing 737 MAX family and 15 Dreamliners into the fleet to A total of 318 new aircraft.

Meanwhile, the two rival star-studded majors are certainly not standing idly by: United, which had reached 1,000 eight months ago, already has 1,051 aircraft in its fleet. And by the end of 2025 (but probably much earlier) Delta Airlines will also touch the fateful threshold and enter the 'club of a thousand,' as it already has 991 machines in service.

The 'others' are far away. In fact, very far away. To find The world's fourth-largest airline by fleet size, in fact, there is no need to go far since. is the low-cost American Southwest Airlines. But with the calculator you go down to 802 aircraft (all Boeing 737s, MAX and otherwise).

They are followed by two of the three Chinese 'biggies' with China Southern with its 696 jets ahead of China Eastern (667) by about thirty pastes, while in seventh place was the overtaking of Ryanair, which, also counting the aircraft of its subsidiary Malta Air, came in at 527 aircraft compared to Air China's 505.

Rounding out the top 10 fleets are. India's low-cost Indigo with 400 aircraft followed by Turkish Airlines who trailed her at 388.