Summary
- American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines have 25 London routes.
- The trio has 55 to 56 daily flights to the UK capital, with American having the most and Delta the least.
- Each operator has fewer services than last summer.
The so-called US Big Three (USB3) carriers – American, Delta, and United – will have 55 to 56 daily flights to London this summer (double for both ways). American is London’s third-largest long-haul operator, United is fourth, and Delta is sixth. The trio has almost one in five of the UK capital’s long-haul flights (19%), rising to more than one in two (58%) when only the US is considered.
This article’s data is based on the crucial month of August. It does not include each carrier’s alliance, transatlantic joint venture partners, or otherwise; it only examines each airline’s operations.
American has 25 daily London flights
The oneworld carrier flies to 17 European airports this summer, of which Heathrow is its most-served airport. It only serves Heathrow in London and has a staggering 25 daily flights partly because of its transatlantic JV partner, British Airways. Heathrow accounts for a staggering 39% of American’s European service.
Flights are down from 26 daily last summer from the end of its Seattle route in October 2023.
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While United was first globally last year, American now is, helped by 12 additions to its airport list.
American’s 10-strong route network is as follows:
- Boston-Heathrow: daily
- Charlotte-Heathrow: three daily
- Chicago O’Hare-Heathrow: four daily
- Dallas/Forth Worth-Heathrow four daily
- JFK-Heathrow: four daily
- Los Angeles-Heathrow: three daily
- Miami-Heathrow: twice-daily
- Philadelphia-Heathrow: twice-daily
- Phoenix-Heathrow: daily
- Raleigh/Durham-Heathrow: daily
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
United: 20 daily London flights
The Star Alliance member serves Heathrow, one of 29 European airports in its network this summer. With 20 daily flights, Heathrow accounts for a fifth of its Europe-bound services. It is so dominant that it has more than double United’s nine-daily flights to Star’s Frankfurt, the carrier’s second most-served airport. So many Heathrow flights by high-premium, 167-seat Boeing 767-300ERs help.
By cutting Boston-Heathrow in October 2023, flights have reduced from 21 daily.
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
United’s European network is from seven US hubs, with Heathrow unsurprisingly the only airport with seven routes (Frankfurt has six):
- Chicago O’Hare-Heathrow: three daily
- Denver-Heathrow: twice-daily
- Houston Intercontinental-Heathrow: twice-daily
- Los Angeles-Heathrow: twice-daily
- Newark-Heathrow: six daily
- San Francisco-Heathrow: three daily
- Washington Dulles-Heathrow: twice-daily
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No 757 flight to Heathrow, but still.
Delta: 10 to 11 daily London flights
Delta is firmly in third place compared to the other USB3 members. It serves 27 European airports this summer, with the SkyTeam hubs of Amsterdam and Paris CDGs being its leading destinations on the continent. They benefit from its JV partnership with Air France-KLM.
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I examined the situation earlier in 2024.
Heathrow has the third-highest number of flights, partly because of its close relationship with Virgin. Despite, or because of, this closeness, Delta’s London service has fallen to 10 to 11 daily from 11 to 12 daily last year.
It ended Los Angeles-Heathrow in May 2024, Detroit is now daily instead of 12 weekly, and Salt Lake City is five weekly rather than daily. But amid the shake-up, it returned to Gatwick in April 2023 and has used the freed-up Heathrow slots for an additional daily flight from Atlanta.
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There are seven routes until September.
Delta has eight London routes, one more than United but fewer than American.
- Atlanta-Heathrow: three daily
- Boston-Heathrow: daily
- Detroit-Heathrow: daily
- JFK-Gatwick: daily
- JFK-Heathrow: double daily
- Minneapolis-Heathrow: daily
- Salt Lake City-Heathrow: five weekly
- Seattle-Heathrow: daily
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comment section.
