Logo world's largest airlines.

There are several methods to measure the size of an airline, so several different lists of the world's largest airlines are available.

BY SCHEDULED PASSENGERS

Scheduled passengers carried

Delta Air Lines Boeing 747

Rank	Airline	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
1	Delta Air Lines	161,049,000	106,070,000	72,900,000	73,584,000	86,007,000
2	Southwest Airlines	101,339,000	101,921,000	101,911,000	96,277,000	88,380,000
3	American Airlines	85,719,000	92,772,000	98,162,000	99,835,000	98,038,000
4	United Airlines	81,421,000	86,412,000	68,400,000	69,265,000	66,717,000
5	Lufthansa	76,543,000	70,543,000	66,100,000	53,400,000	51,300,000
6	Air France-KLM	71,394,000	73,844,000	74,795,000	73,484,000	70,015,000
7	China Southern  Airlines	66,280,000	57,961,000	56,900,000	48,512,000	43,228,000
8	Ryanair	65,300,000	57,647,000	49,030,000	40,532,000
9	Continental Airlines	62,809,000	66,692,000	53,700,000	55,925,000	57,547,000
10	US Airways	51,016,000	54,776,000

Notes

• Based on International Air Transport Association and individual companies' published figures
• 1 United will become the world's largest carrier when operations with Continental Airlines are complete
• 2 numbers include Swiss International Air Lines since 2007, Austrian Airlines and bmi since 2009
• 3 numbers according to fiscal year, which ends in March
• 4 includes Northwest Airlines since 2009, regional affiliates since 2008

Scheduled international passengers carried

Ryanair Boeing 737-800 shortly after takeoff

Rank	Airline	2009 (thousands)	2008 (thousands)	2007 (thousands)
1	Ryanair	66,500	57,647	49,030	Fiscal year ended March 31, 2010
2	Lufthansa	55,589	42,151	41,322	Includes Lufthansa Regional and Lufthansa Italia
3	EasyJet	45,164	35,417	30,173	Fiscal
4	Air France	31,256	32,508	31,549	Fiscal year ended March 31, 2010
5	British Airways	27,844	29,054	28,302
6	Emirates	27,454	22,444	20,448	Fiscal year ended March 31, 2010
7	Cathay Pacific	24,558	18,860	17,447
8	KLM	22,333	23,808	23,165
9	American Airlines	19,514	21,154	21,479
10	Singapore Airlines	16,480	19,142	18,957	Fiscal year ended March 31, 2010

Gay Green Lantern may be seen in a different light

PHILADELPHIA --Green Lantern, one of DC Comics' oldest and enduring heroes no matter what parallel earth he's on, is serving as a beacon for the publisher again, this time as a proud, mighty and openly gay hero. The change is revealed in the pages of the second issue of "Earth 2" out next week, and comes on the heels of what has been an expansive year for gay and lesbian characters in the pages of comic books from Archie to Marvel and others. But purists and fans note: This Green Lantern is not the emerald galactic space cop who was, and is, part of the Justice League and has had a history rich in triumph and tragedy. Instead, said James Robinson, who writes the new series, Alan Scott is the retooled version of the classic Lantern whose first appearance came in the pages of "All-American Comics" No. 16 in July 1940. And his being gay is not part of some wider story line meant to be exploited or undone down the road, either. "This was my idea," Robinson explained this week, noting that before DC relaunched all its titles last summer, Alan Scott had a son who was gay. The thought had occurred to Robinson after DC's relaunch of its entire superhero line last fall removed Alan Scott's gay son Obsidian from the picture. Robinson made the suggestion about Alan Scott to DC co-publisher Dan DiDio, and "there wasn't a moment's hesitation," the writer says. Batwoman is an openly lesbian superhero in the DC Universe, and twice in the last three years the company has won the "Outstanding Comic" award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) for stories featuring the character. But having a gay Green Lantern, one of DC's most visible heroes, is a big step. "What I really want to do with this character is make the fact that he's gay to be a part of who he is and not to be the one identifying aspect of him," Robinson says. "And have his humor and his bravery be as much or more a part of him as his sexuality." The Green Lantern most readers know is Hal Jordan, the man with the green power ring in DC's main Green Lantern series and the hero Ryan Reynolds played in the Green Lantern movie. He and Alan Scott will meet one day, Robinson says, but in the meantime the writer's making sure they're completely different characters, both in personality and powers. "When they're firing their rings at the same time, you'll be able to tell which energy is which," he says. "That's a very important thing so that it sets them apart." Artist Nicola Scott's orders were clear, too: Make Alan Scott a big, strapping, handsome man that everyone would instinctively follow and love. "No short order but right up my alley," she says. "Alan strikes me as an incredibly open, honest and warm man, a natural leader and absolutely the right choice to be guardian of the Earth. His sexuality is incidental. Every time I draw him I love him even more." By the time readers get to know Alan Scott more, he will have already come out as a gay man, but it isn't a huge deal for him. Keeping the world safe is higher on his priority list. "He's someone you would want to watch over your children," Robinson says. "Presenting that kind of a heroic role model hopefully will be a good thing and help to show gays in a positive light for people who might be a little more small-minded." The character's sexuality isn't a major issue for Robinson either. He wrote what he believes was comics' first gay kiss, to in an issue of Starman. The writer understands, though, that in some circles a mainstream gay superhero is not all that welcome. DiDio had made an offhand comment a couple of weeks ago at a London comic-book convention that a DC character would be gay, and last week Marvel Comics announced an upcoming X-Men gay wedding. In response, the group One Million Moms prompted readers on its website to send both companies "an email urging them to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately" and to "ask them to do the right thing."

Charlize Theron vs. Kristen Stewart

"Snow White and the Huntsman,"starring a fierce Kristen Stewart and an even fiercer Charlize Theron as warring sides of good and evil, is a baroque enchantment filled with dazzling darkness, desultory dwarfs, demonic trolls and beastly fairies. It is an absolute wonder to watch and creates a warrior princess for the ages. But what this revisionist fairy tale does not give us is a passionate love — its kisses are as chaste as the snow is white.


Perhaps they are saving the passion for the sequel, for it seems there is surely one to come after director Rupert Sanders' brilliantly inventive debut. The film's Alexander McQueen-esque illusions of grandeur do a very good job of masking its flaws, and for the story, Evan Daugherty has conjured up a serious feminist twist on the ages old fable. It is his first screenplay to be produced, with later assists and shared credit with veterans John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil") and Hossein Amini ("Drive," "The Wings of the Dove").


The bones of the tale remain as the Brothers Grimm envisioned it — a villainess queen obsessed with beauty, a truth-telling mirror, a fairer and far younger Snow White, helpful hapless dwarfs, a poison apple and the power of true love's kiss. But it's the way in which the filmmakers have fleshed things out that makes the magic happen. The best addition is a drunken mercenary in the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), who is pressed by the Queen to track down Snow White.


The script might be based on a Grimm fairy tale in which the princess in peril prides herself on her housecleaning skills. But not since Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West duked it out over a pair of red pumps has womankind been given such an expansive big-screen arena to work out generational issues.
It says it all that Stewart's Snow White dons tomboy leggings under her torn royal garb as she hides out in the woods, while Theron's Ravenna cloaks herself in runway-ready villainy chic as she plots her dirty deeds.


Reaction so far suggests that audiences are ready for such a change of pace.
As Sanders notes, "People called us 'the other Snow White film' for a while," referring to Mirror Mirror, a tepidly greeted comical spin on the same fable that won the race to reach theaters this year. But first is not necessarily best, he notes. "We were the most-viewed trailer on iTunes when it came out."
Many male-driven action vehicles feel free to marginalize women — much online chatter has been devoted to the attention paid to the leather-clad behind of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow in The Avengers.
But Chris Hemsworth, a 6-foot-3 monument of manly might, is granted a beefy sidekick role as the grief-stricken huntsman Eric hired by the queen to seize Snow White's still-beating heart. Instead of going through with the heinous act, the hard-drinking widower finds redemption as he teaches the runaway princess to fend for herself — and with hardly a hint of romantic intent, either.

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Justin Bieber suffers concussion in Paris

Expect more memories to be made and lots of Golden Popcorn statues to be handed out (maybe even to "Bridesmaids") when the 2012 MTV Movie Awards take place this weekend. The show will be hosted by Russell Brand and feature performances by Fun., the Black Keys, Martin Solveig and Wiz Khalifa. It all goes down from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California, on Sunday.


Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. ET.


TMZ posted an audio clip of its conversation with the pop sensation in which he said doctors told him he suffered a concussion and ordered him to relax. The singer quickly posted on Twitter that he was doing well, joking about the incident and saying "gotta laugh at yourself sometimes."


The concussion comes one day after Bieber, on a brief tour of major European cities to promote upcoming album "Believe," was met with a crush of fans before a free concert in Oslo leading to reports of dozens of young girls being injured.


Bieber's record label, Universal Music, said in a statement to celebrity site E! Online on Thursday that it "regrets strongly that some of those who were Justin concert had a bad experience."


A label executive said "fortunately no one was seriously injured," and added that Bieber wanted to return to Norway and perform a future concert there.


Calls and e-mails to Bieber's representatives were not immediately returned.


Bieber performed a free, six-song concert at the Oslo Opera House on Wednesday that is planned to be featured on his upcoming one-hour NBC television special to be aired next month.


The 18-year-old singer was forced to tweet a safety message ahead of the show after police were unable to control the crowds of fans trying to catch a glimpse of the star.


"for the show to happen u must all listen to the police. we are all concerned for your safety and i want what is best for u. please listen," Bieber posted to his 22 million Twitter followers on Wednesday.


TMZ said 49 young girls were injured and 14 taken to hospitals, and police came close to declaring a state of emergency in the capital. Those reports could not be immediately confirmed.


This is not the first time Bieber fever has caused crowd control and safety issues. In November 2009, fans stampeded a shopping mall in Long Island, New York ahead of an appearance by the pop star, forcing organizers to cancel the event.

Will Jessica Simpson help Weight Watchers

New mom and fashion mogul Jessica Simpson has confirmed via Twitter that she's "so excited to be part of the Weight Watcher family!"


Weight Watchers won't confirm how much the endorsement is worth -- reports say $3 million or $4 million -- but the company does say it was talking to Simpson before she got pregnant. And now, "We're thrilled that Jessica Simpson has chosen to join Weight Watchers to adopt a healthier lifestyle and inspire others to do the same."


Celeb names are big in the diet business. CNN Money reports that Jennifer Hudson's 80-pound weight loss last year brought in bucks for the company, so much so that it raised its marketing spending last quarter to $130 million, up 36% from a year earlier. That move dug into its earnings, which dropped 25%, to around $55 million.


Now the company is hoping Simpson will boost earnings again. "Her talent, resilience and positive outlook already make her a great role model," the company said. It even acknowledged that Simpson has been a yo-yo dieter in the past, often under fire for her weight. "By deciding to trade in yo-yo dieting for a healthier lifestyle, we know she will inspire many women to join her.

Germany Likely to Press Russia on Syrian Crisis

President Vladimir Putin's first foreign trip after being sworn in for a third term reflects a policy course driven primarily by Russia's economic interests.


He travels Thursday to Belarus, where Russia has long had designs on economic assets, and from there directly to Germany and France in an attempt to boost ties with the continent's most powerful economies.


In an executive order released as he returned to the presidency this month, Putin named creating conditions for Russia's economic modernization and strengthening its positions in global markets as his No. 1 foreign policy priority.


Belarus has been Russia's closest ally since the 1990s, when the neighboring countries signed a union agreement that envisaged close economic, political and military ties and set the goal of an eventual merger.


Their relations, however, have often plunged into acrimony, with flamboyant Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accusing the Kremlin of trying to wrest control over key sectors of his nation's economy.


The visit came as part of Mr. Putin’s first trip abroad after reclaiming the Russian presidency.


After stops in Belarus and Germany, Mr. Putin planned to travel on to Paris to with France’s newly elected president, François Hollande, later on Friday. The visit to Berlin was not intended as an emergency summit on Syria but escalating violence there has thrust the issue to the top of the agenda.


Mr. Putin has emerged as the fulcrum in efforts by Western nations and Arab foes to force President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to step down. Russia’s government has refused to back any move toward outside intervention in Syria, its longtime partner and last significant foothold in the Middle East.


Russia, along with China, has blocked the United Nations Security Council from taking more vigorous steps, as advocated by Western and most Arab states, to halt the violence in Syria. American officials have stopped just short of calling for military action, opting thus far to focus on humanitarian efforts to supply medical and other emergency supplies.


Germany and France were among the Western nations to coordinate the simultaneous expulsion of Syrian ambassadors on Tuesday as a demonstration of international outrage following the killings of over 100 civilians, including dozens of children, in the Houla area near Homs.


The massacre has thrust the 15-month-old Syrian conflict back into the center of international attention. Activists say pro-government fighters known as shabiha were responsible for the killings, while the Syrian government has blamed its opponents.


The United Nations Security Council, while stopping short of blaming the government, censured it for using heavy artillery against the civilian population in Houla.


United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that the killings in Houla “could plunge Syria into catastrophic civil war — a civil war from which the country would never recover.”


Ms. Merkel on Thursday praised what she called Russia’s “constructive cooperation” over the weekend in the United Nations Security Council. While the chancellor’s relationship with Mr. Putin remains cautious — those close to her say she still associates him with his role as an operative in the former East Germany where she was born — she is fully aware that Russia’s backing is key to achieving any further Security Council action against Syria.


Germany was starkly criticized by Western partners when Berlin refused to support NATO’s air campaign in Libya and abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote to support rebels opposed to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.


Moscow must recognize “that we are not working against Russian strategic interests when we try to end the violence in Syria,” said Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minister, in the daily newspaper Die Welt on Friday. But Mr. Westerwelle also said he was opposed to a discussion of armed intervention which could “create the impression that military intervention is the ideal way to a swift solution.”

Ana Ivanovic falls to Sara Errani

PARIS  — American teen Sloane Stephens and Maria Sharapova advanced on Friday, while Ana Ivanovic lost in the third round of the French Open.
Stephens reached the fourth round by beating Mathilde Johansson of France 6-3, 6-2. Of the eight teenagers in this year's draw, the 19-year-old Stephens was the only one to reach the third round.
The second-seeded Sharapova defeated Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-1 in a match postponed a day by the marathon contest between American John Isner and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Sharapova has won three major titles in her career, but she still needs to win at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam.
Ivanovic fell to Sara Errani of Italy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The 13th-seeded Ivanovic, a former top-ranked player who won the French Open title in 2008, committed 37 of her 40 unforced errors in the final two sets. Errani had only 18.
"In the third set I was creating a lot of opportunities and missing a lot of easy, easy finishing balls," Ivanovic said. "That's something that I'm not really happy about."
Two days after eliminating Venus Williams from the French Open, third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was routed by 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2.
She didn't look anything like the player who overwhelmed seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams in straight sets on Wednesday.
Radwanska has been having a stellar year on tour, winning three titles and moving up to a career-high No. 3 ranking last month. But she is the only player in the top 10 that has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal.
Radwanska dropped to 3-10 against the Russian, including her only two losses in tournament finals.
Before Friday's match, Radwanska had been 38-7 in 2012, with six of those losses coming against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka.
Kuznetsova, who also won the U.S. Open in 2004, has struggled since winning the title at Roland Garros three years ago, only reaching one Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Later Friday, top-ranked Novak Djokovic and 2009 champion Roger Federer will play their third-round matches, while second-seeded Maria Sharapova will play in the second round.




Two days after eliminating Venus Williams from the French Open, third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was routed by 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2.


She didn't look anything like the player who overwhelmed seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams in straight sets on Wednesday.


Second-seeded Maria Sharapova won easily, beating Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-1.


The second-seeded Sharapova won her opening match 6-0, 6-0 on Tuesday.


The Russian has won three major titles in her career, but she still needs to win at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam.


Last year, she lost in the semifinals at the French Open.


Radwanska has been having a stellar year on tour, winning three titles and moving up to a career-high No. 3 ranking last month. But she is the only player in the top 10 that has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal.


Radwanska dropped to 3-10 against the Russian, including her only two losses in tournament finals.


Before Friday's match, Radwanska had been 38-7 in 2012, with six of those losses coming against top-ranked Victoria Azarenka.


Kuznetsova, who also won the U.S. Open in 2004, has struggled since winning the title at Roland Garros three years ago, only reaching one Grand Slam quarterfinal.


Later Friday, top-ranked Novak Djokovic and 2009 champion Roger Federer will play their third-round matches.


Sharapova and Morita were supposed to play Thursday night, but their match was postponed because of the marathon contest between American John Isner and Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu.


Isner lost in the fifth set, 18-16.

Shane McCutcheon

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US recovery stalls as unemployment rate rises amid dismal job growth

The economy added only 69,000 jobs in May—only about half of what is needed to keep up with natural population growth. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent.

In the weakest recovery since the Great Depression, nearly the entire reduction in unemployment since October 2009 has been accomplished through a significant drop in the percentage of adults working or looking for work. Some of these folks returned to the labor market in May; consequently, unemployment ticked up a tenth of a percentage point.

Growth slowed to 1.9 percent in the first quarter from 3 percent the previous period, and was largely sustained by consumers taking on more car and student loans, business investments in equipment and software, and some inventory build. The housing market is improving and that should lift second quarter residential construction a bit but overall, the economy and jobs growth should remain too slower to genuinely dent unemployment.
A broader measure of unemployment, the U6, rose to 14.8% in May from 14.5% in April. The U6 takes into account job seekers as well as those working part-time who want to work full-time jobs.

The White House moved swiftly to dampen the political fallout of the report, which will provide ammunition for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who is attacking President Barack Obama's economic policies ahead of this November's election.

Alan B Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said: "Problems in the job market were long in the making and will not be solved overnight. The economy lost jobs for 25 straight months beginning in February 2008, and over 8m jobs were lost as a result of the Great Recession. We are still fighting back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression."

He said the US economy faced "serious headwinds, including the crisis in Europe and a spike in gas prices" but it was important not to read too much into one month's figures.

Betsey Stevenson, professor of business and public policy at Wharton business school, said: "This is a very bad report. It changes where I thought the US economy was."

She said the cuts to April's job figures were particularly worrying, pointing to a slowdown in the US recovery. The number of long-term unemployed rose to 5.4m from 5.1m, another worrying sign of weakness, said Stevenson.

Gus Faucher, senior economist of PNC Financial Services, said he had been shocked by the numbers. "They were much worse than we had expected. There was a big drop in construction [down 28,000 in May] which is worrying, wage growth was weak. It is hard to see anything good in this report," he said.

The news comes after other economic reports have pointed to a slow down in the US recovery. Yesterday the commerce department said the US's gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of economic growth – rose just 1.9% in the first quarter, down from an estimated 2.2% and far slower than the 3% reported in the fourth quarter of last year.

That figure came as the labour department announced that first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments had increased by 10,000 to 383,000 in the week ended 26 May.

Those figures came as the latest monthly survey by ADP Employer Services reported private employers had added 133,000 in May, economists had been predicting 150,000.

The US jobs market is at least recovering. In Europe there were 17.4 million people without jobs in the 17 nations that use the euro in April, an increase of 110,000 since March and 1.8 million higher than a year earlier, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday. The bloc's unemployment rate is 11%.