Find out how airline mergers created some of today's largest airlines

See a visual of the largest airlines in the US by market share

As of November 2024, Delta Airlines controlled roughly 17.8% of US airline market share, while American Airlines controlled about 17.5%, and Southwest controlled about 17.3%. Spirit Airlines, which would go on to shutter operations in 2026, controlled less than 5% of US airline industry market share at the time.

Modern examples of oligopolies include the airline industry

An oligopoly is a market structure dominated by a few key suppliers. In the US, as of 2021, just four airlines (Delta, United, Southwest, and American) controlled nearly two-thirds of all domestic flights, making the US airline industry one example of an oligopoly.

Airbus is a rare European industrial success story that overtook a rival American firm

After World War II, the US dominated aviation, particularly Boeing. To compete, Europe's major industrial nations pooled resources to form Airbus, a customer-centric airplane manufacturer. Its A320 family of planes became the most popular in airliner history, leading to profitability in the 1990s. Amid Boeing's major hurdles in recent years, Airbus remains the industry leader.

Learn about the bodies that govern the US commercial airline industry, such as the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates US air travel, monitoring both safety and advancement. But despite deregulation in the 1970s, the industry has other governing bodies, too, including the US Department of Transportation and the TSA.

Airlines made an average of $13 per passenger as of 2025

Some airlines, like American Airlines (which started the first airline loyalty program), have loyalty programs with higher valuations than the airline itself. The confusing business model of the modern commercial airline industry, including said loyalty programs, began after the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act in the US, which removed federal control over airline fares, routes, and market entry.

How Standard Oil created Chevron and ExxonMobil

Standard Oil was eventually ordered to separate into 34 different entities, and over the following years, those 34 companies merged into what is now called the “Big Four” in the oil industry.

Find out how airlines quietly became banks

Some experts suggest airlines lose money on every flight. This video dives into how airlines have leveraged their loyalty programs to make billions of dollars, effectively evolving into banks.

The seven major US freight rail companies

The US railroad industry is dominated by seven long-running freight conglomerates. Get the basics on each of these companies with this brief overview.

Southwest Airlines was profitable for nearly 5 decades

Business History hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith explore how a carrier with just four airplanes shuttling across Texas revolutionized flying by offering free whiskey, cheap late-night tickets, and free-for-all seating allocation, despite how hard it is to make money running an airline. However, the success story didn't last forever.

Nearly 3 million people fly in and out of US airports every day

However, not all of those passengers generate revenue for the airlines they purchase their tickets from. One business class traveler typically pays for five to six economy travelers. That's partly because airlines measure profit by the square foot, and although a business class seat is usually roughly 30% roomier than economy seats, the business class traveler usually pays about three times as much as someone sitting in economy.

Watch how American monopolies used vertical and horizontal integration strategies to command markets

Vertical integration occurs when a company controls the entire manufacturing or development process, whereas horizontal integration involves expanding a company's market share. Both strategies have been used by US monopolies to establish dominance in markets.

The 25 biggest IPOs in US history

These 25 companies—which include UPS, Uber Technologies, AT&T, and The Kraft Heinz Co.—had some of the biggest IPO drops in US history. However, not all these drops led to long-term (or even immediate) success.

Explore America’s top companies by revenue in 1994 versus 2023

America’s top companies by revenue have changed a lot in the past few decades. Sears, for instance, isn’t on the 2023 list, while Amazon isn’t in the 1994 edition.

Two of American Express' co-founders also founded Wells Fargo

Henry Wells and William Fargo formed Wells, Fargo & Co. two years after American Express was created. Wells and Fargo saw an opportunity to expand the express delivery service from the East Coast and Middle America to the West Coast. The two initially asked the American Express board to expand operations, but the board declined, so they decided to create their own company. Today, Wells Fargo is among the top four largest banks in the US.

Commercial air travel made international vacations more commonplace

Long-distance commercial flights became more common in the 1980s, allowing tourists to travel internationally more easily. For those who could afford it, travel by airplane allowed them to see everything the world had to offer, harkening back to the philosophy of the Grand Tour.

Rivalry between the AFL and NFL led to a merger—and the creation of the Super Bowl

Competition between the American Football League and the National Football League led to a 1966 merger agreement, with the Super Bowl created as a championship game to determine league supremacy before the two leagues were fully integrated.

The firms running America's voting systems

Three companies make up over 90% of the US market share around voting systems, and like any company, they're priorities aren't always aligned with the public's. Dive into the industry of voting machines in this investigation piece from the Guardian.

View the most turbulent flight routes and airports around the world

Using data from NOAA and the UK Met Office, these maps identify South America as the geographic region with the highest average turbulence. The most turbulent flights in North America are all found in the western United States.

Facts and figures on the largest credit unions

As of early 2024, credit unions had $2.31T in assets under management and were growing exponentially. Some of the biggest players limit access to military personnel, residents of specific states, and those with active religious affiliations. If you want to bank with some of the top names in the US, this list will help you check to see if you qualify.

Read a complete history of urban mass transit in the United States

Explore the rise and fall of American mass transit, from the horse-drawn omnibus era through the streetcar age to the automobile's dominance. In the 1920s, streetcars carried 12 to 13 billion riders per year. By 1963, that number had shrunken to 300,000.

From 1986 to 2024, Microsoft has acquired at least 277 companies

Some of these acquisitions helped the company expand into enterprise software and services, including Visio, which integrated diagramming software into Microsoft Office, and Hotmail, which provided an email platform to customers. Recent acquisitions of Mojang and Activision Blizzard underscore an increasing emphasis on the video game industry.

The business major became increasingly popular in the 1980s

Women were the primary driving force behind the increase. In 1966, slightly more than 2% of all women in college studied business—but by 1985, that percentage had increased to almost 22%.

America's most underrated places to visit

The United States is vast, with beautiful and fascinating cultural hubs, landmarks, and natural wonders to fill a lifetime of travel. These landmarks can be well-known and top everyone's bucket list, or they can fly under-the-radar. Here's a list of...

The world's top agriculture-producing countries

Agriculture is one of the most important industries in the global economy, and while every country produces some of its own food, some countries dominate the markets. The US, Brazil, and the Netherlands are the world's top three agriculture exporters. See more charts and statistics on the topic with this Investopedia article.

Biggest moments that defined Disney

Walt Disney’s first studio went bankrupt, but he and his brother Roy started over in 1923, eventually building an entertainment empire. From "Snow White" to "The Little Mermaid," Disney shaped animation and expanded into TV, theme parks, and major acquisitions like Pixar and Marvel.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.