Guide
Airlines and operators: who is flying
The aircraft over the US at any moment are a mix of major airlines, regional airlines flying under major brands, cargo carriers, business jets, private pilots, the military and government agencies. The first three letters of the callsign usually tell you who is operating the flight.
Who is flying
Major passenger airlines
American, Delta, United and Southwest each operate fleets of hundreds of mainline aircraft, mostly 737-800s, 737 MAX, A321s, A320s and, for long routes, widebodies like the 787-9. Alaska (which now also owns Hawaiian), JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, Sun Country and Breeze fill out the larger carriers.
Regional airlines
Roughly 40 percent of US airline departures are flown by regional airlines under a major brand: American Eagle, Delta Connection, United Express and Alaska's Horizon and SkyWest flights. The aircraft is painted in the major's colors, but the callsign belongs to the regional, so a United Express E175 might broadcast SKW or RPA. Regional fleets are dominated by the Embraer 175 and the CRJ900 and CRJ700.
Cargo
FedEx and UPS are among the largest airlines in the world by fleet size. Atlas, ABX, ATI and others fly for Amazon Air, DHL and the military. Cargo flies heavily overnight, so freighters such as the 767-300, 777F, MD-11 and A300-600 make up a large share of the sky at 3 am. See how many planes are in the sky.
Fractional, charter and business aviation
NetJets and Flexjet operate hundreds of business jets each, flying owners on demand. Their callsigns (EJA, LXJ) are among the most common non-airline prefixes. Charter operators and corporate flight departments add thousands more business jet flights each day.
General aviation
Private pilots, flight schools, crop sprayers, tour operators and air ambulances usually fly with their registration as the callsign (for example N12345). See callsigns, registrations and hex codes.
Military and government
Air Force, Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard aircraft, plus agencies such as Customs and Border Protection. See military and government now.
Common US callsign prefixes
| ICAO code | Spoken callsign | Operator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAL | AMERICAN | American Airlines | Mainline |
| DAL | DELTA | Delta Air Lines | Mainline |
| UAL | UNITED | United Airlines | Mainline |
| SWA | SOUTHWEST | Southwest Airlines | All-737 fleet |
| ASA | ALASKA | Alaska Airlines | Mainline |
| HAL | HAWAIIAN | Hawaiian Airlines | Part of Alaska Air Group |
| JBU | JETBLUE | JetBlue | |
| NKS | SPIRIT WINGS | Spirit Airlines | Ultra-low-cost |
| FFT | FRONTIER FLIGHT | Frontier Airlines | Ultra-low-cost |
| AAY | ALLEGIANT | Allegiant Air | Leisure routes |
| SCX | SUN COUNTRY | Sun Country Airlines | Leisure and charter |
| MXY | MOXY | Breeze Airways | |
| SKW | SKYWEST | SkyWest Airlines | Regional for several majors |
| RPA | BRICKYARD | Republic Airways | Regional for several majors |
| ENY | ENVOY | Envoy Air | American Eagle |
| JIA | BLUE STREAK | PSA Airlines | American Eagle |
| PDT | PIEDMONT | Piedmont Airlines | American Eagle |
| EDV | ENDEAVOR | Endeavor Air | Delta Connection |
| GJS | LINDBERGH | GoJet Airlines | United Express |
| UCA | COMMUTERAIR | CommuteAir | United Express |
| ASH | AIR SHUTTLE | Mesa Airlines | Regional |
| QXE | HORIZON | Horizon Air | Alaska's regional |
| FDX | FEDEX | FedEx Express | Cargo |
| UPS | UPS | UPS Airlines | Cargo |
| GTI | GIANT | Atlas Air | Cargo and charter |
| ABX | ABEX | ABX Air | Cargo |
| ATN | AIR TRANSPORT | Air Transport International | Cargo and charter |
| CKS | CONNIE | Kalitta Air | Cargo |
| EJA | EXECJET | NetJets | Fractional business jets |
| LXJ | FLEXJET | Flexjet | Fractional business jets |
| RCH | REACH | US Air Force Air Mobility Command | Military airlift |
Airline partnerships change over time; the regional assignments above reflect common arrangements and some regionals fly for more than one brand.
International carriers
Within our snapshot box you will also see Air Canada (ACA) and WestJet (WJA) on domestic Canadian and transborder routes, Mexican carriers such as Aeroméxico (AMX) and Volaris (VOI), and long-haul arrivals such as British Airways (BAW), Lufthansa (DLH), Air France (AFR), KLM (KLM), Emirates (UAE) and Qatar Airways (QTR), usually near the coasts and the big gateway airports.
How to tell the operator from the data
- Read the first three letters of the callsign and match them to the table.
- If the callsign starts with N, it is a US-registered aircraft using its registration, usually general aviation.
- If there is no callsign, use the hex address on our lookup page or the airplanes.live globe.
Related: aircraft types, how to read flight data and the glossary.
Questions
Why does a United Express flight show a SkyWest callsign?
Regional airlines fly under major-airline brands, but the callsign broadcast to air traffic control belongs to the airline actually operating the flight. A United Express flight flown by SkyWest uses the SKW callsign.
What does the callsign REACH mean?
REACH is the callsign used by US Air Force Air Mobility Command airlift flights, such as C-17 and C-5 missions.