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


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.

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Brett Avatar

48 responses to “Topic of the Week: Which 10 Cities Have Service to Every United Hub?”

  1. Michael Avatar

    My guess bos, cun, las, msy, mco, phx, Phl, sea, dfw, and pit

    1. Jake Avatar

      yeah…PIT surprised me.

      1. Fred Avatar

        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.

    2. CF Avatar

      Michael nailed it – that was quick.

      1. Arcanum Avatar
        Arcanum

        Doesn’t YYZ have service to all of the hubs?

        1. CF Avatar

          Arcanum – Not LAX. That’s all Air Canada.

  2. Bobber Avatar

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

    I think I can probably live my whole life without visiting Cleveland, however…..

    1. Al B Avatar

      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.

      1. Xnuiem Avatar

        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.

        1. Al B Avatar

          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/

  3. Adan Avatar

    Hmm I actually count 11 (other than hubs themselves).
    bos, bwi, cun, dfw, las, mco, msy, phl, phx, pit, sea

    1. Steve Avatar
      Steve

      BWI doesn’t have service to IAD.

      1. Dan Avatar

        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.

        1. Bill from DC Avatar

          Even stranger were the former DCA-BWI flights on US!

          1. bobsmith Avatar

            There was a mainline flight (I believe on United) in the early 80s between SFO-OAK. Crazy!

  4. Jeff Avatar
    Jeff

    The lucky ten!! Obviously, these are comfortable markets for UA to make that kind of investment in each.

  5. Jonathan Jesse Avatar

    Was there an answer given already? Was it the “bos, cun, las, msy, mco, phx, Phl, sea, dfw, and pit” guess?

  6. Bravenav Avatar

    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.

  7. David SF eastbay Avatar

    Thankfully I don’t care enough to go crazy trying to figure it out…..LOL

  8. Jeff Avatar

    It’s bos, sea, cun, dfw, las, mco, msy, phl, phx, pit

  9. Ken Avatar
    Ken

    Good challenge. Got 7 on the first attempt, missed CUN, MCO and MSY.

    1. CF Avatar

      I missed Philly, Cancun, and New Orleans when I tried.

  10. SubwayNut Avatar

    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.

    1. CF Avatar

      I’m not sure if Guam (and Narita, for that matter) are still considered hubs or not.

      1. Hunter Avatar

        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.

        1. DAB Avatar

          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…

  11. John S Avatar
    John S

    I missed CUN, PHL, and MSY.

  12. Rob Avatar
    Rob

    Are there 11 cities with service to each hub?

    BOS, CUN, DFW, LAS, MCO, MSY, PDX, PHL, PHX, PIT, SEA (?)

    1. CF Avatar

      Rob – Portland does not have service to Cleveland.

  13. A Avatar

    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.

    1. Hunter Avatar

      Lighten up, dude. It was just a freaking trivia question.

  14. elliot Avatar
    elliot

    I’ve heard that SEA is the only UA non-hub with long-haul international service (the 777 to NRT). Is that correct?

    1. Rob Avatar
  15. Demo Avatar

    My guess

    BOS
    DFW
    JFK
    MIA
    LAS
    ATL
    YYZ
    DET
    PDX
    PHL

    1. CF Avatar

      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

  16. Will Avatar

    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!

  17. Michael Avatar

    What about Delta with ATL, JFK, LGA, DTW, MSP, CVG, MEM, SLC? Not including Ams or Nrt those would be a bonus?

    1. Daniel Avatar

      BNA, BOS, CLT, DCA, DEN, DFW, MCI, MCO, ORD, PHL, STL

  18. Joey Hotto Avatar

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

    * SAN is San Diego, CA

    1. CF Avatar

      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.

  19. Matt Avatar

    THe list above, but starting in August, RDU, will have flights to every United Hub including SFO

  20. Doug Swalen Avatar

    Since you didn’t differentiate between US hubs and International hubs (GUM, NRT) the correct answer is zero!

    1. HansGolden Avatar
      HansGolden

      GUM is not technically int’l. ;-)

  21. Eric Avatar

    COS used to have service to every hub, but post merger they have more hubs. Missing CLE and EWR.

  22. Jeremy McMillen Avatar

    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

  23. my initials are also cf Avatar
    my initials are also cf

    What about MSP?

  24. Joho Avatar

    You forgot Tokyo and Guam

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