There is no defensible, comparable top-five ranking of U.S. all-cargo airlines by fleet size in the available company disclosures. The figures use different definitions: FedEx reports a company-wide aircraft total, UPS separates its operated fleet from third-party charters and leases, and Atlas Air Worldwide and Kalitta Air list aircraft types without comparable totals. A ranking would need a shared definition of “fleet” and a common reporting date.
Why a five-airline ranking is not established
A fleet count can mean freighters operated by an airline, all aircraft across a parent company, feeder aircraft, or aircraft supplied by outside operators under charter or lease. Those measures are not interchangeable. The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ 2025 air-carrier group list includes Atlas Air, Federal Express, Kalitta Air, and UPS, but it is a carrier listing—not a ranking by aircraft count. BTS’s 2025 carrier-group list does not establish a fifth-place carrier or an order among the five largest.
What the available disclosures show
| Carrier | What its cited disclosure establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| FedEx | Its current company facts page lists 700 aircraft. FedEx Company Structure and Facts | The figure is company-level and is not identified as a freighter-only count, so it cannot be compared directly with an airline freighter total. |
| UPS | Its 2025 annual filing reports an aircraft fleet as of December 31, 2025, distinguishing UPS-owned and/or operated aircraft from charters and leases operated by others. UPS 2025 Form 10-K | The operated-aircraft measure and the separate fact-sheet total that includes short-term leases and charters are different scopes, not substitutes for one another. The filing’s defined measure should be used for any exact figure. |
| Atlas Air Worldwide | Its fleet page identifies Boeing 747, 777, and 767 aircraft. In March 2026, the company also reported an order for 20 Airbus A350F aircraft. Atlas Air Worldwide fleet page | The fleet page does not give a comparable total. The 20 A350Fs are aircraft on order, not aircraft shown as in service. |
| Kalitta Air | Its fleet page lists 747-400F, 777-200F, and 777-300ERSF aircraft. Kalitta Air fleet page | The page does not state a total comparable with the FedEx or UPS figures. |
UPS also publishes an aircraft fleet fact sheet updated December 31, 2025; it describes a total that includes airline fleet aircraft and short-term leases and charters. That broader measure should not be conflated with the 10-K’s distinction between aircraft UPS operates and aircraft provided by others. UPS Aircraft Fleet Fact Sheet
What a fair comparison would require
Before naming a largest carrier or assigning places, a comparison would need to specify:
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- Whether it counts active freighters operated under the airline’s certificate or every aircraft at the parent-company level.
- Whether feeder aircraft and contractor-operated aircraft are included.
- Whether leased and chartered aircraft operated by other companies are included.
- A common as-of date, with aircraft on order listed separately from aircraft in service.
Until those boundaries and comparable totals are available for all carriers, the evidence does not support a complete five-place order or an exact fifth-place airline. The listed sources support a qualified comparison of disclosures, not a ranked top five.
Quick Recap
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