Since Americans are all about numbers and size and girth and whatever, and since it’s impossible to sit through a long flight without developing stupid lists, here’s a rough accounting of airlines experienced to date.
Note that there are a few dubious entries - where it’s clear that a new airline was flown but the exact name may not be accurate. And of course, there are many entries that were forgotten with time. So for now, we’ll go with 35 airlines as “the number” when evaluating the worldliness of a traveler. When you figure there were ones forgotten from childhood, it’s likely to go up towards 40. But we’ll stick with this number out of confidence and security that the number is strong enough to show true experience as a globetrotter.
Aeromexico
AirAsia
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Bangkok Airways
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
China Eastern
Continental*
Delta Airlines
EasyJet***
Etihad Airways
Firefly
Frontier Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Iceland Express*
JetBlue
Juneyao Airlines (China)
Kuwait Airways
LATAM
Meridiana* (Italy)
Qantas (Australia)
Ryanair***
Southwest Airlines***
Spirit*** (The Devil’s Airline)
Sun Country
Thai Airways
Transavia**
Turkish Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways*
Vietnam
Virgin America*
Virgin Atlantic
Vueling**
* No longer exists
** Not 100% certain but pretty sure it was this one
*** Never fly unless there are absolutely no other options