On Sun, 8 Jun 2008 18:43:13 +0000 (UTC),
gazelle@xmission.xmission.com
(Kenny McCormack) wrote:
>What is the world's largest airline (And, what is the criteria?)
>
>First, a quick online search says the answer (as of now, 2008) is
>"American Airlines", but that up until recently, it was United.
It can vary, as different media outlets don't often use the same
metric. But a business-oriented media outlet will use revenue
passenger miles. That metric helps smooth out the difference between
airlines who specialize in short hops and those who do a lot of
international/long-haul flights.
As its name implies, an RPM is the equivalent of one passenger flown
one mile. So, for example, Southwest can carry a plane of 150 people
2,000 miles and generate the same number of miles as 50 flown on an
international flight of 6,000 miles. (Yes, I know there aren't a ton
of 6,000-mile flights offered, but you get the point....)
>
>However, I was watching an old game show (on GSN) and the question was
>asked, and the answer was given as Aeroflot (Russian carrier). Playing
>along with the game show, I thought the answer was United and was
>surprised at their answer.
In all likelihood they're using passengers carried, not revenue
passenger miles. Airports and a lot of media outlets use this metric
instead, even though it's a distorted number.
>
>So:
>1) Was Aeroflot really the world's largest (in '84/'85) ?
>2) (Absent any specification) What is the criteria? Market Cap? # of
>employees? # of planes? # of cities served? Revenue?