AP Style Airline, Airlines

AP Style holds that “airlines,” “air lines,” and “airways” should be capitalized when used as a part of a proper airline name.

Companies that use “airlines” include Alitalia, American, Continental, Hawaiian, Iberia, Japan, Southwest, and United.

Companies that use airways include British, JetBlue, Qantas, and US.

Companies that use none of these include Aer Lingus, Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France, and Air India. Note Delta’s company name “Delta Air Lines,” not “Delta Airlines.”

On second reference, use just the proper name (Delta), an abbreviation if applicable, or the airline. Acceptable abbreviations are “ANA” for “All Nippon Airways,” “BA” for all “British Airways,” and “JAL” for “Japan Airlines.” Use “airlines” when referring to more than one airline.

Do not use “air line,” “air line,” or “airways” in generic references to an airline.

Below is a list of major U.S. airlines with their ticker symbols and headquarters,

• AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI) Orlando, Florida.
• Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) Seattle.
• AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines (AMR) Fort Worth, Texas.
• Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) Houston.
• Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) Atlanta.
• ExpressJet Holdings Inc. (XJT) Houston.
• Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. (FRNT) Denver (now owned by Republic Airways).
• JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) New York.
• Mesa Air Group Inc. (MESA) Phoenix.
• Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (RJET) Indianapolis.
• SkyWest Inc. (SKYW) St. George, Utah.
• Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) Dallas.
• UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines (UAUA) Chicago.
• US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) Tempe, Ariz.
• Virgin America, Burlingame, Calif.

Below is a list of major international airlines with their U.S. ticker symbols where applicable and headquarters,

• Air Canada, Saint-Laurent, Canada.
• Air China Ltd., Beijing.
• Air France-KLM, Roissy, France.
• Alitalia, Rome.
• All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd., Tokyo.
• British Airways PLC, Harmondsworth, England.
• Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong.
• China Eastern Airlines Corp. LTD (CEA), Shanghai.
• China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. (ZNH), Guangzhou, China.
• Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Frankfurt, Germany.
• Emigrates Airlines, Dubai, UAE.
• Iberia, Madrid.
• Japan Airlines Corp., Tokyo.
• Korean Airlines Co. Ltd., Seoul, Korea.
• Malaysia Airlines, Subang, Malaysia.
• Qantas Airways Ltd., Mascot, Australia.
• Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY), Dublin.
• Singapore Airlines, Singapore.
• Thai Airways International, PLC, Bangkok.
• Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., Crawley England.