In the list of top legacy names in airlines, the three largest are Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines. In fact, all three full-service carriers ensure the operation of a mixture of narrowbody and widebody aircraft, including regional aircraft via contracts with other airlines like SkyWest.
A recent study on aircraft by Upgraded Points claims that the US-based carriers offer the most legroom space for passengers, like JetBlue, with 32.2 inches. In another way, Southwest Airlines ensures 32 inches. Talking about low-cost or ultra-low-cost airlines, Frontier and Spirit Airlines offer 28 inches of seat pitch.
Let’s limit the start with a deep discussion of legroom to economy and economy plus seats—for first, business and economy premium class. But what about the three largest US carriers by fleet size: Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines?
The Three Largest US Airlines
All three of these airlines operate fleets of around 1,000 mainline aircraft. This unique airline trio is the world’s largest airline in terms of aviation metrics today. Typically, the airlines are mostly focused on short-haul and domestic routes within the US and nearby international routes, also operating with large-body fleets. However, the United has the second-largest widebody fleet in the world after Emirates.
All three operate a large fleet of Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737 family aircraft; however, Delta operates 717s and Airbus A220S in its mainline fleet. It is possible to directly compare the same aircraft type with some narrowbodies like the Boeing 737-800. Delta does not operate the current generation MAX series of aircraft, although it has ordered 100 examples of the MAX 10 with options for 30 more. Delta Air Lines is expected to start on arrival for the same in late 2025.
The trio carriers so far don’t have widebody aircraft in common. Meanwhile, Delta and United are ageing Boeing 767s, but American doesn’t have. So far, Delta airlines is switching to an all-Airbus widebody fleet. According to the latest facts, American and United don’t operate Airbus widebodies. But United has A350-900s on order, but they are not yet to be delivered until around 2030.
Airbus A321neo Economy Seat Pitch
Initially, three carriers operate the Airbus A321neo. Delta currently has 74 in inventory, American has 84, and United has 37, although more are on order. So far, Delta’s A321neos are configured with 194 seats—including business class seats and 174 economy seats, of which 42 in total are Delta Comfort category. These are designed with 34 inches of seat pitch, which is quite more than regular economy seats, which are 31 inches. Both seats, however, are 18 inches wide.
The slightly higher density is all over with United’s A321neos with a layout of 200 seats in total. It ensures 20 business class seats and 180 economy seats, of which 57 are United Economy Plus. These United Economy Plus seats have a pitch of 33-38 inches. However, the regular economy has 30 inches of dimension. Both are meanwhile 18.4 inches wide.
Last but not least, American Airlines—Airbus A321neos are configured with 196 seats, and 20 of them are business class. Out of all 176, there are economy seats with 47 Main Cabin Extra seats, ensuring 34-39 inches of seat pitch. The Main Cabin seats have 30 inches of pitch. According to American, Main Cabin Extra and regular economy seats are 18.4 inches wide, although some Main Cabin Extra seats are 16.6 inches wide.
Boeing 737-800 Economy Seat Pitch
All these airlines again have a common aircraft—the Boeing 737-800, which is precisely the popular Next Generation variant. Delta’s 737-800s come with a total of 160 seats that include 16 business class seats and 144 economy class seats (36 Delta Comfort seats). Delta Comfort seats provide 34 inches of seat pitch and a seat width of 17.3 inches, while regular economy has 31-32 inches of pitch and the same width.
However, United do have a slightly higher density than Delta, with 166 seats in its 737-800s. It includes 16 business seats, 48 United economy Plus seats and 102 regular economy seats. Economy Plus provides passengers with 34 inches of seat pitch, some four inches more than regular economy’s 30 inches. United ensures the seat width for both types of economy is between 16.3 and 17.3 inches.
America has the highest density of 737-800s of the trio, with a total of 172 seats. Like the other two, it had 16 business class seats. Its economy class is equipped with 24 Main Cabin Extra seats with 34 inches of pitch, and its Main Cabin seating comes with 30 inches of pitch. These are both listed as having 16.6 to 17.8 inches of seat width.
Boeing 787-9 & Airbus A350-900 Pitch
The fact is, all these carriers don’t share a widebody aircraft in common—still, the comparison is within American and United Boeing 787-9’s legroom. It’s alongside Delta’s A350-900s. Delta’s A350-900s come with 306 seats. These include 32 Delta One business seats, 48 Delta Premium Select seats, 36 Delta Comfort seats, and Delta Main regular economy seats.
Delta Comfort seats ensure a width of 17.4 inches and a seat pitch of 34 inches, while the regular economy seats have a width of 17.4 inches and a seat pitch of 31-32 inches. Delta also has -900s configured with 275 and 339 seats.
United’s 787-9 Dreamliners have 257 seats. They have 48 United Polaris business seats, 21 United Premium Plus seats, 39 United Economy Plus seats, and 149 United Economy seats. Economy Plus seats offer 34 inches of seat pitch, three inches more than regular economy’s 31 inches. The seat width for both is 17.3 inches. United also has another 787 9 configuration with 222 seats.
American lists its 787-9s as having a higher density with 285 seats, although it also has another configuration with just 244 seats. These 285 seats include 30 business, 21 premium economy, 34 economy extra, and 200 regular economy seats. Economy extra seats offer a generous seat pitch of 35 inches, while regular economy has 31 inches. The seat width is 17.2 inches for economy plus and between 16.2 and 17.2 inches for regular economy.
Legroom By Aircraft Type
Recently, Upgraded Points stated a surprising verdict on the aircraft type—the largest average seat pitch is in the United States—Embraer 190 regional aircraft, offering 32 inches. In the United States, these are mostly operated by JetBlue and are outside the scope of the article.
Next are the widebody aircraft and the Bombardier CRJ regional jet and A220 narrowbody. Boeing 787s, Boeing 777s, Boeing 787s, Airbus A330neos, and Airbus A350S all provide an average of 31 inches of seat pitch. CRJ regional aircraft fly for major US carriers like Delta and United, but these are not counted in their mainline fleet. Both the CRJ and A220 offer 31 inches of seat pitch on average.
So far, Delta is the largest operator of the Airbus A220. In fact, the Boeing MAX 8s in the United States offer almost 30.9 inches of seat pitch. However, aided by carriers like Southwest and Alaska with generous legroom space.
Let’s talk about some of the worst options as well—so far, the Airbus A320 family of aircraft is a bad option. It offers an average space of 30.1 and 28.0 inches of seat pitch. The new Airbus A320neo offers an average of 28.0 inches.
It’s of course the likely most picked aircraft as low-cost and ultra low-cost airlines—such as Allegiant & Frontier. In the list of poorly scored aircraft, Boeing 717 is flown by Delta and Hawaiian—scores around 29.1 inches on average seat pitch, and basic economy seat pitch is between 30 and 31 inches.
Delta Leads the Pack in Global Air Travel
Delta Air Lines ensures a little more spacious legroom than United and American. Regular economy class travel can be good with a seat pitch of 31.8 inches. Delta’s A321neos and 737-800s ensure an extra inch in regular economy class over United and American.
American Airlines comes next, providing an average of 31 inches in seat pitch across its aircraft for economy passengers. United provides an average of 30.2 inches.
Unlike ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier, passengers with the three big legacy airlines can expect complimentary snacks, in-seat power, in-flight entertainment (sometimes streamed to one’s personal device), and on-board Wi-Fi.
Most of the Delta’s mainline fleet on most domestic routes gets free in-flight Wi-Fi. United is currently rolling out in-flight Wi-Fi free to MileagePlus members. Meanwhile, American is scheduled to offer free Wi-Fi to its AAdvantage loyalty program members starting in January 2026.
