Airline Hubs in the United States – Comprehensive List

Understanding major airline hubs is a great way to maximize your flight options and increase your odds of getting a good frequent flyer award redemption.

In case you aren't aware, an airline hub airport is an airport used by an airline to consolidate passenger traffic and flight operations.  The term comes from the “hub-and-spoke” system where an airline operates flights from several “spoke” cities into a hub airport.  The passengers traveling from the spoke cities connect through the hub airport and onto their final destination.  This system allows airlines to serve more passengers with fewer planes at a lower cost.

Flying into a hub airport has a number of important benefits, including:

• Better Travel Planning: If you are planning a trip and want to fly with a specific airline, knowing their hubs can help you identify the most direct and cost-efficient routes.
• Flight Availability: Airlines offer more flights and a wider range of destinations from their hubs. If you are looking for a specific destination or a broader choice of flight options, knowing your preferred airline's hubs can help you identify the best routes and increase your chances of finding available flights (both with paid fares and with frequent flyer miles).
• More Options with Flight Disruptions: In the event of a flight cancellation, delay, or other disruption, knowing an airline's hubs can be very helpful. Hubs have more alternative flight options, allowing you to re-book or find alternative routes more easily compared to smaller airports where an airline may have limited operations.
• Reduced Costs: If airlines can reduce their costs by running an efficient hub and spoke system, then they can pass those savings onto you in the form of lower airfare.
• Better Airport Amenities: Hub airports typically have a lot more travelers and with that comes more and better restaurants, airline lounges, etc.

However, there are also some disadvantages such as overcrowded lounges, long lines to get through security and long waits for your baggage.

List of Airline Hubs in the United States

Here is a list of hubs for each of the largest U.S. based airlines.

American Airlines:

American Airlines has more hubs than any other airline, with a total of 10 hubs. Their largest hub is Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW).

• Charlotte (CLT)
• Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Miami (MIA)
• New York (JFK)
• New York, LaGuardia (LGA)
• Philadelphia (PHL)
• Phoenix (PHX)
• Washington Reagan (DCA)

Related Article: Guide to all American Airlines Hubs

Delta Airlines:

Delta Air Lines operates with a total of 9 hubs. Their largest hub is Atlanta (ATL), which also happens to be the world's largest hub airport.

• Atlanta (ATL)
• Boston (BOS)
• Detroit (DTW)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP)
• New York – Kennedy (JFK)
• New York – LaGuardia (LGA)
• Salt Lake City (SLC)
• Seattle (SEA)

Related Article: Guide to all Delta Airlines Hubs

United Airlines:

United Airlines operates with a total of 8 hubs. Their largest hub is Chicago O'Hare (ORD) and their smallest is Guam (GUM).

• Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
• Denver (DEN)
• Houston-Intercontinental (IAH)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Newark (EWR)
• San Francisco (SFO)
• Washington-Dulles (IAD)
• Guam (GUM)

Related Article: Guide to all United Airlines Hubs

Alaska Airlines:

Alaska Airlines operates with a total of 5 hubs. Their largest hub is Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.

• Anchorage (ANA)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Portland (PDX)
• Seattle-Tacoma (SEA)
• San Francisco (SFO)

Hawaiian Airlines:

Hawaiian Airlines operates with a total of 2 hubs. Their largest hub is Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) on the island of Oʻahu with a secondary hub out of Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.

• Honolulu (HNL)
• Kahului (OGG)

Other focus airports for Hawaiian Airlines include:

• Lihue (LIH)
• Kona (KOA)
• Hilo (ITO)

Frontier Airlines:

Frontier has a mixed mode model with a single hub at Denver International Airport (DEN) for it's West Coast flights and flies point to point via focus cities on the East Coast.

• Denver (DEN)

Focus airports for Frontier Airlines include:

• Atlanta (ATL)
• Chicago–Midway (MDW)
• Cleveland (CLE)
• Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Miami (MIA)
• Orlando (MCO)
• Philadelphia (PHL)
• Phoenix–Sky Harbor (PHX)
• Tampa (TPA)
• Trenton (TTN)

Airlines that do not have hubs

jetBlue, Southwest and Spirit do not operate off of a hub and spoke system, they are point to point. While they don't have hubs, they do have major focus cities. The following are the major focus cities for jetBlue and Southwest

jetBlue Airways:

jetBlue has 6 focus cities, with JFK being the largest focus city and base of operations.

• Boston (BOS)
• Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
• Long Beach (LGB)
• New York-JFK (JFK)
• Orlando (MCO)
• San Juan (SJU)

Southwest Airlines:

Southwest has 13 focus cities, with Denver being the busiest airport, despite Dallas Love Field being its base of operations.

• Atlanta (ATL)
• Baltimore (BWI)
• Chicago Midway (MDW)
• Dallas Love Field (DAL)
• Denver (DEN)
• Houston-Hobby (HOU)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Nashville (BNA)
• Oakland (OAK)
• Orlando (MCO)
• Phoenix (PHX)
• St. Louis (STL)

Spirit Airlines:

Spirit Airlines operates out of 9 focus cities. Their largest is Fort Lauderdale.

• Atlantic City (ACY)
• Chicago (ORD)
• Dallas (DFW)
• Detroit (DTW)
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL)
• Houston (IAH)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Myrtle Beach (MYR)