United Airlines Hubs and Primary Routes

United’s primary hub is at Chicago O’Hare, where their futuristic terminal made a splash when it was opened years ago. The huge operation offers services around the world, though they are especially strong if you are traveling to Asia or around the Midwest and Upper Plains. Winter weather often makes business travelers wonder whether it’s a good idea to connect at O’Hare in the cold months. But in reality, summer thunderstorms cause far more disruption, and it’s those late afternoon July flights that caused major backups throughout the system.

Denver serves as United’s next largest hub, offering service around the country and many regional routes around Colorado and the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states. United had a comfortable near-monopoly position at Denver until Southwest came in once Frontier started to falter, and United is now losing market share to the low-fare carrier as service differences between the two airlines disappear.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are both smaller hubs offering extensive service up and down the West Coast (often competing with Southwest and Alaska), as well as a large number of flights to Asia and Australia. When combined with Star Alliance partners ANA, Asiana and Air China, United offers an unparalleled array of access to cities across Asia.

Their fifth domestic hub is at Washington-Dulles, where they offer flights to cities in the Northeast, as well as a small number of flights to Europe. Notably, United has limited service to Florida, and has essentially ceded Florida service to the myriad competitors in the market.

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