Just two of the United States’ “big three” air carriers still host the Boeing 777-300ER on their flightlines: United Airlines and American Airlines. The iconic widebody twinjet is a staple of long-haul aviation and a trailblazer of ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operation Performance Standards). Delta Air Lines liquidated its fleet of “triple-sevens,” as the 777 is known, and chose to favor the Airbus A330 and A350 instead.
The two enormous carriers have roughly the same number of airframes in their inventory as well, with American owning 20 and United having 22, per Planespotters.net data publicly available. The question is, which one of these two operators flies its huge long-haul airliners the most?
Thanks to data from Cirium, we can determine exactly who the victor is and break it down by flight count as well as total miles flown. The numbers don’t lie, and United is the undisputed champion, but the statistics tell an interesting story. Let’s break down the statistics and analyze how these two giants of commercial aviation put their triple-sevens to work every day.
Each of these top US carriers has a similar portfolio of destinations served by the 777-300ER. That is a fairly balanced mix of international ports of call overseas and transcontinental flights serving high-density, coast-to-coast domestic routes. While United has the highest total in both flight volume and miles flown, American actually operates the longest range itinerary of the two carriers.
United’s fleet of 777-300ERs (77W) is scheduled for 10% more departures in November 2025, but the routes on their itineraries will rack up roughly 1,000 more miles per flight. Manila Airport (MNL), San Francisco International (SFO), and Hong Kong Airport (HKG) top the charts for destinations. More international and transcontinental routes round out the top ten most popular routes, with several itineraries breaking the 6,000-mile mark.
Our other contender, American Airlines, has London Heathrow Airport (LHR), New York JFK International (JFK), Miami Airport (MIA), and, of course, its main hub at Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) in the top slots. In November 2025, the airline will fly its 77Ws on the longest route between the two airlines, at nearly 7,500 miles. There are also a number of routes hovering around the 4,000-mile mark and a couple that barely break 1,000 miles.
United Airlines’ Strategy
United’s largest aircraft, the 777-300ER, is only used on routes with high passenger and premium travel demand, like those from San Francisco to Hong Kong, Sydney, and Tokyo. It mainly functions from major United hubs, such as San Francisco (SFO), Washington Dulles (IAD), and Newark (EWR), connecting them to important international cities and enabling seamless connections across United’s domestic and international networks.
Using the Boeing 777-300ER as a high-capacity
American Vs. United: Which Airline Flies The Boeing 777-300ER More?
