In Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s comparison of 20 leading airline groups, Emirates had the highest reported 2024 net income, at US$5.196 billion. Delta Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and IAG followed. This is a ranking by total net income—not by revenue or profit margin—and the comparison is not a census of every airline worldwide.
The five airline groups with the highest reported 2024 net income
Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s 2025 KPI report compares leading airline groups by 2024 operating revenue and includes net income figures. Ranked by that net income, the five leaders in its table are:
| Rank | Airline or group | 2024 net income |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emirates | US$5.196 billion |
| 2 | Delta Air Lines | US$3.457 billion |
| 3 | Turkish Airlines | US$3.425 billion |
| 4 | United Airlines | US$3.149 billion |
| 5 | IAG | US$2.828 billion |
Source for all five figures: Aviation Week Intelligence Network’s 2025 KPI report. IAG is an airline group with multiple airline brands, not a single carrier. The comparison covers 20 leading airline groups; it does not establish a definitive top five across every airline in the world.
What “most profitable” means in this ranking
Net income measures total profit, not revenue
This list ranks total net income: the amount left as profit after expenses and applicable taxes are accounted for under each company’s reporting. It answers which companies reported the largest profit in dollars, not which earned the most revenue or kept the highest share of each revenue dollar. Delta had the highest revenue in Aviation Week’s comparison, at US$61.643 billion, while Emirates had the highest net income.
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Profit before tax, profit after tax, operating profit and net income are distinct measures. They should not be swapped in a ranking without clearly identifying the measure being used.
A margin ranking would produce a different comparison
Net margin compares net profit with revenue, while operating margin compares operating profit with revenue. A carrier with less total profit can have a higher margin if it earns more profit per dollar of revenue. AeroTime’s separate 2024 operating-margin analysis put Emirates and Singapore Airlines above 14%, and Ryanair at 13.65%; those are that source’s margin calculations, not the net-income figures in the table above. See AeroTime’s 2024 airline profitability analysis.
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Why the figures do not cover identical reporting periods
“2024” in a cross-company comparison does not necessarily mean that every figure covers January 1 through December 31. Delta’s comparison figure refers to calendar 2024, while Emirates’ financial year runs from April 1 through March 31. Aviation Week notes March 31 fiscal year-ends for Emirates and other groups in its comparison. The ranking is best read as a comparison of reported 2024 results, not perfectly synchronized calendar-year accounts. The Associated Press explains Emirates’ reporting-year timing.
Entity scope matters, too. Emirates airline and Emirates Group are not interchangeable. For the year ended March 31, 2025, Emirates reported AED 19.1 billion (US$5.2 billion) in airline profit after tax. Emirates Group reported AED 22.7 billion (US$6.2 billion) in profit before tax; the group includes dnata. The figures cover different entities and use different tax treatments, so the group’s larger figure should not be substituted for Emirates airline’s result. Details are in the Emirates Group’s 2024–25 results announcement.
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Airline profits in the wider industry
Large profits at the top of a ranking do not mean airlines as a whole earn high margins. IATA’s June 2025 outlook estimated global airline net profit of US$36.0 billion and a 3.7% net margin for 2025; it estimated 2024 global net profit at US$32.4 billion and margin at 3.4%. The June outlook also attributed 30% of the industry’s cost base to fuel. These are estimates published in that outlook, not final audited global results. See IATA’s June 2025 industry outlook.
IATA’s Annual Review page gives a different estimate for 2025: US$45 billion in global net profit and a collective net margin of 4.2%. These figures belong to that publication and should not be blended with the June outlook as if they were a single, unchanged forecast series. See IATA’s Annual Review.
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How to use the ranking
- Use the table to compare reported net income among the 20 airline groups in Aviation Week’s 2024 comparison.
- Use a margin ranking—not total profit—to assess how much profit a company generated relative to its revenue.
- Check whether a result belongs to an airline or a wider parent group, and whether it is before or after tax.
- Check each company’s reporting period before interpreting “2024” as the same 12 months for every airline.
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