Humanity has long dreamed of flying, but one must imagine even Orville and Wilbur Wright would be in awe of the industry that has sprung up around the invention they first got airborne in December 1903.
Airlines have changed the way we do business and opened up new opportunities as they have made the globe smaller and more accessible. In 2018, the global airline industry carried 4.3 billion passengers and generated more than $800 billion in revenue, according to the International Air Transportation Association, up 6% and 9.4%, respectively, from 2017. A substantial share of that total is traveled on U.S. airlines, and an investor interested in buying into that growth (or at least recouping a small bit of what they spend annually on vacation travel) might want to take a look at U.S. airline stocks.
Before committing capital to airlines, it is a good idea to examine the lay of the land and get to know the different competitors vying to transport customers from point A to point B. Here's a quick look at the 10 biggest U.S. airline stocks, including a few names that might surprise you.