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I know that Jet A-1 is the most widely used fuel in the commercial airline market, but what is its market share in percentage?

Are there any big users of Jet A rather than Jet A-1? And if so, why?

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Chevron writes

Jet A is used in the United States while most of the rest of the world uses Jet A-1. The important difference between the two fuels is that Jet A-1 has a lower maximum freezing point than Jet A (Jet A: –40°C, Jet A-1: –47°C). The lower freezing point makes Jet A-1 more suitable for long international flights, especially on polar routes during the winter.

However, the lower freezing point comes at a price. Other variables being constant, a refinery can produce a few percent more Jet A than Jet A-1 because the higher freezing point allows the incorporation of more higher boiling components, which in turn, permits the use of a broader distillation cut. The choice of Jet A for use in the United States is driven by concerns about fuel price and availability. Many years of experience have shown that Jet A is suitable for use in the United States.

Notably, the US is also the single largest market for aviation fuel worldwide, so it has the volume to support a separate type. There's consumption numbers in the same document.

The disadvantage with Jet A is with long-haul flights that experience cold air, the 7 degrees can make a difference, forcing the flight to descend to warmer levels to heat the fuel, increasing consumption.

One thing that can be done is a sample of the loaded fuel is taken and the actual freeze point determined, and that number used in flight. Usually for Jet-A this lies somewhere in between the two specs.

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I can't speak much for private jets but most airlines including Southwest, Delta, American, Allegiant, United, Onejet, Alaskan, Virgin, Aeromexico, and Fedex use jet A fuel.

Fedex uses planes such as the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, the ATR 42 and 72. All three of these planes operate on Jet A with an FSII (Fuel System Icing Inhibitor) called Prist.

I work at IND and we don't supply any Jet A-1

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  • $\begingroup$ I am pretty sure all of them take Jet A or Jet A-1 (they are different, but engines generally take either) depending on which is available. $\endgroup$
    – Jan Hudec
    Commented Nov 11, 2017 at 15:25
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    $\begingroup$ I feel that, if you're going to directly contradict the claim made in the question, you ought to supply some evidence. You've listed ten airlines but all we have is your word that they use Jet A rather than some other fuel. (Honestly, some kind of citation would be good even if you're not contradicting the question, but it seems even more important in cases such as this one.) $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Nov 11, 2017 at 15:26

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