Alaska Airlines is based in SeaTac, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. Alaska Airlines has a sister airline, Horizon. The airline derives from McGee Airways, which flew between Anchorage and Bristol Bay in 1932. American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It has five hubs: Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, Miami, New York and Los Angeles. Continental Airlines is headquartered in Houston, Texas. Delta Airlines is located in Atlanta and is the world's largest airline. Frontier Airlines is headquartered in Indianapolis and has a secondary headquarters in Denver.
JetBlue is located in New York City and is a low-budget airline. Southwest Airlines is located in Dallas, Texas, and is one of the largest airlines carrying domestic passengers with over 3,100 flights per day. United Airlines is headquartered in Chicago and has it's largest hub at the Chicago O'Hare Airport. The airline also has hubs in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Denver, San Francisco and near Tokyo. U.S. Airways has hubs in Phoenix, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Smaller airlines only service some parts of the country or have fewer flights in the air each day. Air Tran is a budget airline that primarily serves the Midwest and Southeast. Hawaiian Airlines serves Hawaii and Asian-Pacific countries. Spirit America Airlines is another low-cost airlines that operates throughout North America. The company has its headquarters in Miramar, Florida. The company's biggest service area is the Caribbean and tropical locations. Virgin American is also a low-cost carrier that started flying in 2007.
Cargo airlines do not carry passengers but shuffle freight from destination to destination. Deutsche Post DHL is a large postal company that operates worldwide. Shipping is part of that operations. Other large shipping companies that have cargo flights include United Parcel Service and FedEx. These companies operate flights owned by the company to ship goods both domestically and internationally. Shipping longer distances costs more money.
