megacarrier

English

Etymology

From mega- +‎ carrier.

Noun

megacarrier (plural megacarriers)

1. A very large certified airline.
   • 1995, Peter Cappelli, Airline Labor Relations in the Global Era: The New Frontier‎^[1], page 224:

     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 class.

   • 2016, Paul Stephen Dempsey, Routledge Handbook of Public Aviation Law‎^[2], page 6:

     But, actually, three virtual megacarriers have emerged – the Star, Skyteam, and Star Alliances.

   • 2016, John G. Wensveen, Air Transportation: A Management Perspective‎^[3], page 283:

     The three tiers include: regional/feeder carrier, new-entrant/low-cost/no-frills carrier, and the “megacarrier.

2. A large aircraft carrier or other ship.
   • 2010, Julian May, The Sagittarius Whorl: Book Three of the Rampart Worlds Trilogy‎^[4]:

     Twenty-one Sheltok megacarriers vanished without a trace, and others had close calls.

   • 2013, Mack Maloney, The Sky Ghost‎^[5]:

     The ship's company for each megacarrier topped 25,000 men, not counting the pilots and air crews for the aircraft on board.

   • 2015, César Ducruet, Maritime Networks: Spatial structures and time dynamics:

     The studied period goes across different dominant ship technologies, such as sail, steam, combustion, specialized vessels (e.g. container, tanker), and megacarriers.

3. (transport) A freight transport company offering many shipment methods, such as rail, truck, and air service.
   • 1982, Modern Railroads, volumes 37-38, page 69:

     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.

   • 1983, “How Megacarriers May Emerge”, in Forbes, volume 132, page 436:

     The multimodal, transcontinental megacarriers of the future will probably coalesce around the capital assets represented by today's major railroad rights-of-way.

   • 1987, Handling & Shipping Management, volume 28, page 30:

     Along with intramodal mergers, intermodal carrier buy outs and diversification into businesses completely divorced from transportation, rail megacarriers continue the "rationalization* of their lines.

   • 2016, William M. Pride, Foundations of Marketing, page 357:

     Another transportation innovation is the development of megacarriers, freight transportation companies that offer several shipment methods, including rail, truck, and air service.