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 the U.S., legacy carriers (like Delta, United, and American) operate true hub-and-spoke networks, where a handful of airports handle a large share of connections. Many low-cost carriers don’t use “hubs” in the same way — they operate focus cities or bases, which are simply airports where they fly many routes (though not always with the same connection “banking” strategy).

This guide is designed to answer the most common questions quickly:

• What are the hubs for each major U.S. airline?
• Which airlines don’t really have hubs, and what should you look at instead?
• When does it actually matter if you’re flying through a hub?

U.S. airline hubs (and major focus cities)

Here’s the simplest way to use this page:

• If you’re flying a major U.S. airline, use the hub list to pick the best connecting airport and to understand where the airline has the most flights.
• If you’re flying a low-cost airline, skip the word “hub” and look for the airline’s largest focus cities/bases (that’s where you’ll usually find the most nonstop options and backup flights).

If you want terminal maps, concourses, and airline-specific tips, jump to:

• Delta hub airports and terminals
• United hub airports and terminals
• American hub airports and terminals

Hub vs. focus city vs. base (what the terms mean in plain English)

Airlines use these terms differently, so here’s the practical definition travelers care about:

• Hub: The airline’s main connecting airport(s). Hubs are designed for connections, and they usually have the densest schedules and the best same-day backup options when flights are delayed.
• Focus city: A city where the airline flies a lot of routes (often many nonstops), but it may not be structured around heavy connecting traffic.
• Base: An operational term (crews and aircraft). Many airlines and news outlets use “base” interchangeably with focus city, but it does not always mean the airport is a true connection hub.

Why airline hubs matter (when it actually impacts your trip)

Knowing an airline’s hubs helps most when you’re trying to do one of these things:

• Book smarter connections: Hubs often have more flights per day, which can mean shorter layovers and more routing choices.
• Increase same-day backup options: If weather or ATC delays break your itinerary, hubs typically give you more alternative flights on the same airline.
• Find better award routings: More flights and more routes often mean more ways to stitch together an award itinerary.
• Reduce stress on tight itineraries: Some hubs are easy to connect in; others involve longer terminal transfers. (This is where terminal guides are valuable.)

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 (and Alaska Air Group’s network) operates with a set of major hubs on the West Coast plus Alaska and Hawai‘i. Their largest hub is Seattle (SEA).

• Seattle-Tacoma (SEA)
• Anchorage (ANC)
• Honolulu (HNL)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• Portland (PDX)
• San Diego (SAN)
• 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 doesn’t operate a traditional legacy-style hub-and-spoke network. Instead, it concentrates aircraft and crews in several large operating bases — with Denver (DEN) historically being its biggest.

• Denver (DEN) (largest base)

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 without traditional hubs (focus cities and major bases)

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)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• 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)

Related Article: Guide to all Southwest Focus Cities

Spirit Airlines:

Spirit is primarily point-to-point. Instead of “hubs,” it’s more helpful to think in terms of Spirit’s biggest operating airports, which can change as the airline adjusts its network.

Major Spirit airports include:

• Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
• Orlando (MCO)
• Las Vegas (LAS)
• Detroit (DTW)

Related Article: Guide to all Spirit Airlines Focus Cities