megacarrier

Noun

megacarrier (plural megacarriers)

1. A very large certified airline.
   • It was only because of concerns about how to maintain viability as a regional airline in a megacarrier environment that both Western's management and its employees responded positively to overtures by Delta, resulting in Western becoming a significant part of Delta's entry into the megacarrier...1995, Peter Cappelli, Airline Labor Relations in the Global Era: The New Frontier, page 224
   • But, actually, three virtual megacarriers have emerged – the Star, Skyteam, and Star Alliances.2016, Paul Stephen Dempsey, Routledge Handbook of Public Aviation Law, page 6
2. A large aircraft carrier or other ship.
   • Twenty-one Sheltok megacarriers vanished without a trace, and others had close calls.2010, Julian May, The Sagittarius Whorl: Book Three of the Rampart Worlds Trilogy
   • The ship's company for each megacarrier topped 25,000 men, not counting the pilots and air crews for the aircraft on board.2013, Mack Maloney, The Sky Ghost
3. A freight transport company offering many shipment methods, such as rail, truck, and air service.
   • According to Metz, megacarriers will evolve gradually, first with common ownership of several individual companies, followed by integrated marketing among subsidiaries, integration of operations will occur very slowly and cautiously.1982, Modern Railroads, volumes 37-38, page 69
   • The multimodal, transcontinental megacarriers of the future will probably coalesce around the capital assets represented by today's major railroad rights-of-way.1983, “How Megacarriers May Emerge”, in Forbes, volume 132, page 436