While probably of little interest to the average person, here’s something I find to be interesting regarding how airlines choose to brand themselves.
In this post:
Airline, airlines, air lines, and more…
Airlines brand themselves in different ways, and I find that distinction to be noteworthy, especially given how often airlines are referred to incorrectly in the media. For example, you have American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Emirates Airline. There are options beyond that as well, as you have companies like Qatar Airways.
I know these distinctions might sound minor, but you’d never guess how much it irks people at some airlines when you get these things wrong. For example, if you apply for a job at Delta and refer to the airline as “Delta Airlines,” your odds of landing a job offer will go down drastically. Sure, that might seem silly, but in fairness, I suppose it’s a basic test to see how detail oriented people are.
Is one term more logical than the others?
Private companies can market themselves however they’d like to. But is there one form that’s more correct, between airline, airlines, and air lines? I’ll share my take, but y’all are welcome to correct me and chime in.
Looking at dictionary definitions, it seems like an airline is defined as “an organization providing a regular public service of air transportation on one or more routes.”
So if you’re using a strict definition like that, I’d say Emirates has it right, referring to itself as Emirates Airline. It’s one organization providing regular public air service on one or more routes.
But this is also a bit more nuanced. For example, most of the major US carriers are actually combinations of many smaller airlines through mergers over the years, so it’s not unreasonable that they would add an “s.” For that matter, many airlines have wholly owned subsidiaries, so I suppose there are multiple organizations providing transportation under the larger airline branding umbrella.
And I get the Delta Air Lines branding as well. An “air line” can also be defined as a single route or connection between two points, and Delta provides many different “air lines.”
So yeah, the moral of the story is that airline, airlines, and air lines, are all correct, it’s just a function of how you want to look at it, and how a company wants to market itself. But if you’re applying for a job at one of these companies, be sure you get that detail right.
Bottom line
It’s not something a non-aviation geek will typically put much thought into, but not all airlines market themselves the same. Even taking “airways” out of the equation,” you have “airline,” “airlines,” and “air lines.”
There’s a logical explanation for each of these. I think “airline” is the most traditionally correct, in terms of one organization providing many routes. But the other two work as well, it’s just about how you frame it.
Where do you stand on airline vs. airlines vs. air lines?
For those who actually speak and understand English, the definitions are simple to understand.
Airline: An airline is a company that provides a regular service of air transportion for passengers or freight.
Airlines: Plural of Airline.
Air Line: A tube, or hose, that contains and carries a compressed air supply.
Now those who depend upon that old Noah Webster’s dictionary, or, the likes of Google or even TikTok for definitions …. any corruption could be possible.
You finally realized that saying "English Language" instead of "English" isn't a way to look any more British.
Nice attempt, Tim's BA alter ego.
In the early days in the US, “Air Lines” was more common, distinguishing their service from “Rail Lines”, and perhaps reflecting the origins of airline service as an adjunct to commercial mail routes. I doubt “airline” was even a single word before the 1930s. When I worked for Delta, they still used lots of old fashioned terms the rest of the industry changed, so no surprise they proudly resist “airlines”.
When founded, most carriers in the US used “… Air Lines”. Sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, there was some issue that arose--I can’t remember if it was cross ownership with aircraft manufacturers or route monopolies or what—so the original companies had to close, and then a split second later emerged with new names. United Air Lines became United Airlines.
Fun fact, commercial aircraft manufacturers are not allowed to manufacture anircraft engines and v.v....
When founded, most carriers in the US used “… Air Lines”. Sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, there was some issue that arose--I can’t remember if it was cross ownership with aircraft manufacturers or route monopolies or what—so the original companies had to close, and then a split second later emerged with new names. United Air Lines became United Airlines.
Fun fact, commercial aircraft manufacturers are not allowed to manufacture anircraft engines and v.v. Competition needed across both industries.
Then there's carriers whose names start with "Air" which is also kinda silly. We're used to it now, but they're not, actually in the air business. They don't make air (they foul it) nor do they buy, sell, or trade air.
One could argue that the most logical names are FlyDubai, VietJet and the like.
If you want to annoy a fussy company, spell porter or oneworld with a capital first letter.
Would you add jetBlue to that?! heh
Just like how you spelt flydubai FlyDubai.
LOL @Mason caught DenB with his pants down.
And one actually has to be in bold.
Fair cop!
This article seems silly in my opinion because it is in fact Delta airlines. If you google Delta it will come up on their official website as Delta Airlines
@ Travelwithdavid -- Where are you seeing that? When I search "Delta," the first result is the official website, which shows this description:
"Delta Air Lines | Flights & Plane Tickets + Hotels & Cars"
It shows up as Airlines here in the UK - have emailed you a pic Ben
@Travelwithdavid let's have a URL Sir. Should be easy
That is a Google screw-up that shows up on the search results page.
Go on Delta's actual website and they refer to themselves as Delta Air Lines.
@Travelwithdavid
Did you talk to someone with a foreign accent?
How much did you pay that website or number to refund your Delta ticket?
Did you say $17,328?
Nigerian Prince says hello.
You must be new here. As someone that’s been around a few years living in Atlanta if you say airlines vs air lines you are bound to get corrected. Even at their offices it’s spelled Air Lines.
just to be clear "if you say airlines vs air lines", there isn't a noticeable pronunciation difference while speaking, right? I always just thought it was a spelling issue vs a conversation where you could tell?
I'm also in the UK and if I type Delta Air lines into Google, the first sponsored link to the Delta homepage says 'Delta Air Lines', while the second, unsponsored link to the exact same homepage is entitled on Google 'Delta Airlines'. Very odd.
Just my observations.
'Air Lines' seems to be some older form of 'airlines'. United was also called United Air Lines in its early days.
Meanwhile the difference btwn. 'airlines' and 'airways' seem to be mainly a matter of American or British influence.
Countries with higher American influence (like East Asian countries) prefer 'airlines' over 'airways' (besides CX, for an obvious reason and ANA - but their Japanese name doesn't include 'airline' (航空)...
Just my observations.
'Air Lines' seems to be some older form of 'airlines'. United was also called United Air Lines in its early days.
Meanwhile the difference btwn. 'airlines' and 'airways' seem to be mainly a matter of American or British influence.
Countries with higher American influence (like East Asian countries) prefer 'airlines' over 'airways' (besides CX, for an obvious reason and ANA - but their Japanese name doesn't include 'airline' (航空) either, but rather 'air transport' (空輸), which may be why).
You'll find some 'airways' in the former British colonies and protectorates but some 'airlines' as well, which I guess is due to the US leading the aviation industry in general.
I'm just going to point out why ANA isn't a good example for your country theory.
Japan Airlines.
Or your overall theory.
US Airways, AirTran, Braniff, Breeze, JetBlue or Pan Am.
Even IAG is not airways.
@Eskimo - I'm just wondering if I've ever said that every airline on this world is 100% in accordance with the trend I've seen and I'd be responsible for the incorrect data.
Commenters like you, ConcordeBoy and ImmortalSynn makes me think that I should add disclaimers to my comment. These three can never pass a chance to tackle users over.
I'm not sure Emirates ever refers to itself as Emirates Airline. It's virtually always just "Emirates."
Last year a friend of mine, (pilot), was having their Delta application reviewed by an interview prep service. His resume had “Airline” on it, he was told he needed to change it to Air Line for his application to be considered. Funny how different each company is.