Five airlines operate Boeing 737 Max aircraft in the US: United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Allegiant Air. Delta Air Lines was the last of the ‘Big Three’ airlines to order MAX aircraft, purchasing MAX 10s at the Farnborough Air Show in 2023. Allegiant Air is the most recent airline to join this list, operating the 737 MAX 8-200.
Southwest Airlines
243 planes
Southwest was founded in Texas and has become one of the most well-known and loved airlines in the US. Its brand is also known worldwide, and the airline is famous for being a sole 737 operator. Today, it has the largest MAX fleet in the US, and it still has hundreds of aircraft on order.
The Dallas-based carrier only operates the MAX 8s. The first aircraft delivered to Southwest was N8710M on August 26, 2017. That year, Southwest received another 16 MAX 8s, eight of them in September.
This year, Southwest has received 20 planes so far, with the most recent delivery taking place on October 25. Despite having a fleet of 243 MAX 8s, Southwest has a further 188 on order. Additionally, Southwest has purchased 286 MAX 7s but those deliveries have been delayed significantly as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not certified the smallest variant of the MAX family.
1 United Airlines
188 planes
According to data from ch-aviation, United has a fleet of 188 MAX 8 and 9 aircraft. The first MAX 8 was delivered to United on January 31, 2019. As a matter of fact, that day, United received two MAX 8s. Those first two planes are registered as N17312 and N37307.
United did not add a single MAX 8 to its fleet for more than two years, and in 2021 it added 16 in seven months. August 2021 was extremely busy with seven new planes, three of them delivered from August 3-6. In 2024, 26 MAX 8s have been added to United’s fleet. July has been the busiest month of the year, with nine new aircraft having been delivered to the airline.
The larger MAX 9 was the first variant added to United’s fleet, with the first delivery taking place in April 2018. Registered as N67501, the first MAX 9 for United had flown 13,713 hours as of May, which translates to 06:02 of flying per day. Data from ch-aviation shows the last recorded delivery on September 9, making it the third MAX 9 delivered in 2024.
Despite already having a massive fleet of MAX aircraft, United still has more than 300 on order. The airline still expects another 20 MAX 8s and 138 MAX 9s. Additionally, United has an order for 167 MAX 10s, which have not yet been certified. The first few airframes are already built, but several delays at Boeing have continued to push back the delivery date.
2 Alaska Airlines
72 planes
Alaska has the third-largest MAX fleet in the US. For several years, the airline has operated the MAX 9 and added the first MAX 8 to its fleet just a few months ago. Currently, Alaska has 72 MAX 9s and five MAX 8s, and in the future, it will add another 69 planes.
Unlike the other airlines on this list, Alaska has only been operating MAX aircraft for three years. The first MAX 9 in the airline’s fleet was delivered in January 2021. Seven days later, Alaska received the second MAX 9, and by the end of 2021, it had 11 of the type.
Earlier this year, Alaska had an incident with one of its MAX 9s in which an exit door plug blew out mid-flight. This was the beginning of a chaotic year for Boeing, which faced heavy scrutiny from the FAA over its shortcomings.
Alaska received the first of 20 MAX 8s one day before the incident. The airline had anticipated receiving the first five by May, but deliveries were delayed and by the end of May, there were only two in the fleet. Today, Alaska has five MAX 8s, two of which were delivered in June and another in July.
3 American Airlines
63 planes
American only ordered two variants of the MAX family, the 8 and 10. Since adding its first plane in 2017, the airline’s MAX 8 fleet has grown to 63 planes. By the end of 2017, American had four planes, one delivered in September and October, and the final two in December.
American had no deliveries in 2022 but in 2023 the airline received several aircraft. 2024 has been a slow year for deliveries for American, with only four MAX 8s joining the fleet from May to September. In the coming years, American will add another 37 MAX 8s to its fleet, with a further 115 MAX 10s on order.
4 Allegiant Air
One aircraft
Allegiant is the fifth operator of the MAX aircraft in the US, and its first plane was delivered in September. This was monumental for both Allegiant and the country, as Allegiant moved aay from an all-Boeing fleet and became the US’ first operator of the stretched MAX 8-200 variant.
Like several airlines worldwide, Allegiant has been affected by delays at Boeing. Originally, the airline expected to have up to 12 MAX 8-200s by the end of the year, but it now expects to end the year with one. In late October, CEO Greg Anderson, said,
”The Boeing strike has obviously created some additional uncertainty to our latest delivery forecast, and we don’t see this being firmed up until the strike has ended."
