Topic of the Week: Which 10 Cities Have Service to Every United Hub?

June 29, 2012 CF 48 comments

I was talking to someone from one of these lucky airports recently and he told me that there are 10 cities in the United Airlines system that have nonstop service to each of United’s 8 hubs. As a reminder, those hubs are San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston/Intercontinental, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington/Dulles, and Newark. Can you name them all? These don’t have to have year-round nonstops to all hubs – seasonal service counts. For comparison, I missed three.

United none

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Written by Michael on June 29, 2012. Reply

My guess bos, cun, las, msy, mco, phx, Phl, sea, dfw, and pit
- Written by Jake on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  yeah…PIT surprised me.
  - Written by Fred on June 29, 2012. Reply
    
    The PIT-LAX and SFO flights are only once daily, and they were ‘taken over’ from US Airways when US dropped them about 2 years ago.
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Michael nailed it – that was quick.
  - Written by Arcanum on June 29, 2012. Reply
    
    Doesn’t YYZ have service to all of the hubs?
    - Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
      
      Arcanum – Not LAX. That’s all Air Canada.
Written by Bobber on June 29, 2012. Reply

LHR used to have 7/8 – shame about dropping DEN.

I think I can probably live my whole life without visiting Cleveland, however…..
- Written by Al B on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Don’t knock it until you try it: Among other things, there’s very good ethnic food plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Short drives away: The Pro Football HOF in Canton to the south and Cedar Point to the west, which is one of the world’s greatest amusement parks and a must-see if you like roller coasters.
  - Written by Xnuiem on June 29, 2012. Reply
    
    Ok, just curious. What kind of ethnic food are we talking here?
    
    Now, Cedar Point…i would love to go, never been, but would love to do it.
    - Written by Al B on July 3, 2012. Reply
      
      All of the usual suspects, including a strong eastern European bent. But you can find Caribbean and African cuisine as well, just as you would in any major city.
      
      http://clevelandethniceats.wordpress.com/
Written by Adan on June 29, 2012. Reply

Hmm I actually count 11 (other than hubs themselves).
bos, bwi, cun, dfw, las, mco, msy, phl, phx, pit, sea
- Written by Steve on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  BWI doesn’t have service to IAD.
  - Written by Dan on June 29, 2012. Reply
    
    Strangely, it actually used to. 10 years ago, I worked for UAX at IAD, and we flew J32′s up there twice a day. That flight was always swapped out a lot, because if they needed an aircraft you could bus people to BWI quite easily.
    - Written by Bill from DC on June 29, 2012. Reply
      
      Even stranger were the former DCA-BWI flights on US!
      - Written by bobsmith on July 2, 2012.
        
        There was a mainline flight (I believe on United) in the early 80s between SFO-OAK. Crazy!
Written by Jeff on June 29, 2012. Reply

The lucky ten!! Obviously, these are comfortable markets for UA to make that kind of investment in each.
Written by Jonathan Jesse on June 29, 2012. Reply

Was there an answer given already? Was it the “bos, cun, las, msy, mco, phx, Phl, sea, dfw, and pit” guess?
Written by Bravenav on June 29, 2012. Reply

The limiting hubs would be LAX, SFO, and CLE as UA’s California ops are very West Coast and Asia oriented and CLE is their smallest hub. I would guess SEA, LAS, PHX, DFW, AUS, BOS, MCO, TPA, MIA, & YYZ.
Written by David SF eastbay on June 29, 2012. Reply

Thankfully I don’t care enough to go crazy trying to figure it out…..LOL
Written by Jeff on June 29, 2012. Reply

It’s bos, sea, cun, dfw, las, mco, msy, phl, phx, pit
Written by Ken on June 29, 2012. Reply

Good challenge. Got 7 on the first attempt, missed CUN, MCO and MSY.
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  I missed Philly, Cancun, and New Orleans when I tried.
Written by SubwayNut on June 29, 2012. Reply

Isn’t Guam (not that I have ever been, or have any reason to go there) also considered a hub? I think Continental used to call it one for the Continental Micronesia Flying.
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  I’m not sure if Guam (and Narita, for that matter) are still considered hubs or not.
  - Written by Hunter on June 29, 2012. Reply
    
    UA considers them hubs. The newest on board video discusses UA’s “10 hubs” and then highlights the importance of SFO to the network. My guess is they’ll do one hub per month on the videos over the next year.
    - Written by DAB on June 29, 2012. Reply
      
      Also according to their magazine, which I kept a copy of from last night’s flight, Narita and Guam are hubs…
      
      It actually still shows the 787 flight from IAH to Aukland, though, so maybe their graphics department hasn’t caught up with their other spin…
Written by John S on June 29, 2012. Reply

I missed CUN, PHL, and MSY.
Written by Rob on June 29, 2012. Reply

Are there 11 cities with service to each hub?

BOS, CUN, DFW, LAS, MCO, MSY, PDX, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA (?)
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Rob – Portland does not have service to Cleveland.
Written by A on June 29, 2012. Reply

What’s the big deal? I would guess ATL, DTW and MSP all have non-stop service to all United hubs via Delta. DFW probably does via American. What matters to me isn’t access to someones hubs, but non-stop access to the places I need to be.

For example I was in DFW and needed to take a business trip to MFE. Sure, I could take United and connect through IAH, but it was far faster to take the direct flight on AA. My time is more valuable than being loyal to an airline and I would guess most corporate travelers are similar.
- Written by Hunter on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Lighten up, dude. It was just a freaking trivia question.
Written by elliot on June 29, 2012. Reply

I’ve heard that SEA is the only UA non-hub with long-haul international service (the 777 to NRT). Is that correct?
- Written by Rob on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  HNL (also to NRT)
Written by Demo on June 29, 2012. Reply

My guess

BOS
DFW
JFK
MIA
LAS
ATL
YYZ
DET
PDX
PHL
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Demo – Some yes, some no…
  
  JFK – no service to Newark, Cleveland, or O’Hare
  Miami – no service to Cleveland, Denver, LA, or SF
  Atlanta – no service to LA or SF
  Toronto – no service to LA
  Detroit – no service to Cleveland, LA, or SF
  Portland – no service to Cleveland
Written by Will on June 29, 2012. Reply

Good challenge. For future similar posts, is there some sort of online quiz where we can post (rather than get the spoilers in the comments section)?

Keep ‘em coming!
Written by Michael on June 29, 2012. Reply

What about Delta with ATL, JFK, LGA, DTW, MSP, CVG, MEM, SLC? Not including Ams or Nrt those would be a bonus?
- Written by Daniel on June 30, 2012. Reply
  
  BNA, BOS, CLT, DCA, DEN, DFW, MCI, MCO, ORD, PHL, STL
Written by Joey Hotto on June 29, 2012. Reply

SAN does. It has non stops to LAX,SFO,IAD,DEN,ORD,IAH,EWR, and seasonal service to CLE.

* SAN is San Diego, CA
- Written by CF on June 29, 2012. Reply
  
  Joey – I don’t see any seasonal service to Cleveland from San Diego. I see United 1073 which goes San Diego – Houston – Cleveland in the winter, but I don’t see any nonstops.
Written by Matt on June 30, 2012. Reply

THe list above, but starting in August, RDU, will have flights to every United Hub including SFO
- Written by CF on June 30, 2012. Reply
  
  Matt – Not LAX
Written by Doug Swalen on June 30, 2012. Reply

Since you didn’t differentiate between US hubs and International hubs (GUM, NRT) the correct answer is zero!
- Written by HansGolden on June 30, 2012. Reply
  
  GUM is not technically int’l. ;-)
Written by Eric on June 30, 2012. Reply

COS used to have service to every hub, but post merger they have more hubs. Missing CLE and EWR.
Written by Jeremy McMillen on July 1, 2012. Reply

ABQ use to have flights to every pre-merger UA hub now we are misses CLE and EWR but 6 for 8 is not bad as you would think I can get to any of the six hubs and get where I want to go normal with just the one stop
Written by my initials are also cf on July 3, 2012. Reply

What about MSP?
Written by Joho on May 18, 2013. Reply

You forgot Tokyo and Guam

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