The three major US airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, are key players in the travel industry between the US and Europe. During the most in-demand quarter of the year, Q3 2026, which spans from July to September, these three airlines plan to offer a total of 269 daily departures. This accounts for 43. 3% of the entire market, making them the top three airlines operating in the North Atlantic to Europe.

Their dominance in this market is not surprising, as each of these airlines operates from multiple hubs in the US, while European airlines typically only have one hub. Additionally, the US airlines serve a larger number of cities across Europe compared to their European counterparts.

In preparation for Q3 2026, American, Delta, and United have announced their plans to offer a record number of daily departures to Europe. This information is based on their schedule submissions to Cirium Diio and shows a slight increase of 1. 4% from the previous year. Compared to Q3 2019, before the pandemic, there is a significant increase of 17. 6% in their collective offerings.

One contributor to this growth is the use of narrowbody planes, although they will only account for about 20 daily departures, which is less than 1/14th of the total departures. However, this is still the highest level of narrowbody deployment since before the pandemic. The most commonly used single-aisle plane is the 757-200, followed by the 737 MAX 8 and the Airbus A321XLR. American is the only airline planning to operate the A321XLR on a transatlantic route this year, specifically from New York JFK to Edinburgh. They also plan to introduce the A321XLR to their route from New York JFK to Porto in 2027.

Compared to the previous year, the US Big Three have increased their daily departures to Europe by four, while European carriers have added 14. This brings the US airlines’ collective share down to 43. 3%, just slightly above what it was before the pandemic.

United Airlines, one of the three major US airlines, has made some changes to their summer flight schedule. While American and Delta have added three and one daily departures respectively, United has decreased their daily departures by one. This is notable because United is known for their creative approach to network planning and will be adding new routes to Bari, Santiago de Compostela, and Split in 2026 while also resuming service to Glasgow. However, they have also removed service to Stockholm, which was their longest transatlantic 757-operated flight and would have been the world’s longest 757 service in the summer.

The reduction in United’s daily departures can also be attributed to cuts in frequency to various routes that are still being served.