Airline industry term
A
mainline flight
is a flight operated by an airline's main operating unit, rather than by regional alliances, regional code-shares, regional subsidiaries, or wholly owned subsidiaries offering low-cost operations.
Mainline carriers
typically operate between
hub airports
within their network and on international or long-haul services, using
narrow-body
and
wide-body
aircraft. This is in contrast to
regional airlines
, providing feeder services to hub airports operating smaller
turboprop
or
regional jet
aircraft, or
low-cost carrier
subsidiaries serving leisure markets.
In the United States, examples of mainline
passenger airline
flights include those operated by
American Airlines
,
Delta Air Lines
, and
United Airlines
; but not flights operated by
regional airlines
Envoy Air
,
Mesa Airlines
,
Executive Airlines
,
Piedmont Airlines
, or
PSA Airlines
with regional jets or the services of
regional airline marketing brands
such as
American Eagle
,
Delta Connection
, or
United Express
aboard lower-capacity narrowbody jets and turboprop aircraft, such as those produced by
Embraer
or
Bombardier
, that do not have transcontinental range.
U.S.
legacy carriers
may operate branded mainline services using the same flight crews and
AOC
as that of their mainline operations. For example,
United p.s.
and
American Flagship Service
cater to the medium-haul
transcontinental
business segment. Short-haul
air shuttles
, such as
Delta Shuttle
, operate at high frequency intervals between busy
city pairs
. Previously, U.S. legacy carriers operated low-cost air services within their mainline operations to compete with
low-cost carriers
; these operations were short-lived and included brands such as
Continental Lite
,
Song
(Delta), and
Ted
(United). Outside the U.S., low-cost carrier subsidiary airlines are more common, with examples including
Air Canada Rouge
,
Jetstar Airways
(subsidiary of
Qantas
), and
Eurowings
(subsidiary of
Lufthansa
).
An airline carrier's
collective bargaining agreement
with flight crews stipulates the maximum seating capacity of regional aircraft; as such, any aircraft that exceeds this capacity must operate as a mainline flight. The converse is not the case; mainline flight crews, with proper
type ratings
, may operate aircraft that are smaller than typical mainline aircraft.
Mainline subsidiary carriers and airline within an airline brands
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Notes:
1
Though not part of the main "legacy airline" or "flag carrier", these particular airlines are often described as "regional airlines" by the mainline airline counterparts they are affiliated or owned by.
2
These airline businesses resultant of airline liberalization in Europe, really do not have a "mainline brand", but do have unified brandings across multiple individual airline certificates forming "virtual airlines" much like the
American Eagle
,
Delta Connection
, and
United Express
banner branded regional airlines in the United States.
North American mainline carrier's regional affiliates
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Notes:
1
Branding used for regional feeder service and commuter flights. Operated either by a regional subsidiary or under contract by an independent regional airline.
2
These airlines are independent and not subsidiaries of mainline air carriers.
3
These independent airlines operate regional aircraft under codeshare agreements with a mainline carrier.
4
Independent airlines operating under a capacity purchase agreement with their mainline partner
See also
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Notes
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References
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[1]
AA and early references to mainline, regional and B-scale.
[2]
Business model of new Airlines like GLO not operating their own aircraft but leasing them from other certificated air carriers, and creating their own airline brand without the actual assets of a true airline.
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Current legacy carriers
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Defunct legacy carriers
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