The 15 Most Common Airliners Flying Today

I love airplanes. I love flying. Hell, I even love airports. There's just something about it that really gets my goat. This love of flying really took off (heh) after I started working at Jalopnik. See, cars have always been my day one, but sometime you need another outlet when your entire job is something you love. Thus, planes.

I get a little exciting feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I know I'm going to be flying on a plane I've never been on before. It's nerdy, but I even have a little bucket list of planes I want to catch a flight aboard.

But anyway, all of this got me thinking. I wanted to see what the most common commercial airliners in the sky were, and honestly the top results are too surprising. But, what was surprising was the number of planes in the top 15 most common that have gone out of production.

So, why don't we take a look at the most common commercial planes in the sky today? Just one quick note, if a plane is out of production, its numbers are from 2020, as that was the most current available data. As always, we do the best with the tools we are given.

We're staring out strong with the A380 considering its literally the biggest commercial jet ever made. If you didn't know, the A380 we have today is actually supposed to be the smallest in the family, but unfortunately the even bigger versions of the double decker behemoth were cancelled.

The MD80 rocks because it was in one of my favorite movies of 2022: Plane. She's a tough old bird.

As a French person myself, I do not trust the French. If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going. (For karmic reasons, I am joking.)

This is at the very top of my bucket list. I need to fly on a 747 at some point before they're all gone. I NEED it. What a beautiful thing.

TIL Embraer is a Brazilian company. That's neat! Also, look at that pointy lil' nose. It's so goddamn cute!

Fun little fact about Bombardier. Along with jets, the company also makes New York City subway cars.

The 757 is considered the muscle car of the airliner world, and for that I love it. Who wouldn't love the Dodge Challenger of the skies?

The 767 in one form or another has been in production since 1982. That makes it by far and away the oldest wide body jet on this lift, but hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm also very excited for when Boeing completes its 767th 767.

This is the perfect plane for a flight that lasts under an hour and a half. If you have to wait any longer than that, you better be cool with a little claustrophobia.

Life is plastic, it's fantastic!

The A330 makes me feel nothing. I wish it did, but I don't know. I get no fizz from it.

Love a lil' plane.

Ah, the triple-7. It's the most common widebody jet in the world right now. Let's keep it that way. We don't need those Airbus folks overtaking us with the soulless A330.

It is truly amazing how long Boeing has been cranking out 737s. The first one took flight all the way back in 1967. My mom wasn't even born the first time this thing flew, and now I've been on them more than any other aircraft. Boeing has had a rough go of it with its 737 Max program, but that seems to be pretty well sorted for the most part.

Here's our winner, folks: the Airbus A320 Putting my anti-Airbus bias aside, it's honestly incredibly how many of these things the French company has made over the years. Just to put it in perspective, Boeing has built an average of about 201 737s per year since they entered service. Meanwhile, Airbus has put out about 289 per year since its first flight in 1986.