IATA (quite correctly) counted AA and US as two separate airlines. Had the new AA counted as one, it would have been the top airline in traffic with 142,3 million pax.
Delta, Southwest, China Southern Top 3 Airlines in Traffic for 2014
Two U.S. airlines and one in Asia carried more passengers than any others last year, according to figures published by the International Air Transport Association on Wednesday.
Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and China Southern Airlines were the top three airlines in the world, the same rankings as 2013, based on the number of scheduled passengers carried, according to statistics published by the IATA. Additionally, all three airlines showed substantial increases over the previous year’s figures.
The IATA figures list American Airlines and US Airways as two separate carriers as they were flying under two separate operating certificates last year but the combined American, with 142.3 million passengers, would have topped the list...
<SNIP>
Above appeared in FBT, where I serve as Ed.Dir.