Would United be more competitive in SE USA with a hub to compete with ATL and MIA... eg MCO

was surprised to find Orlando already had more United flights than BOS

https://simpleflying.com/united-airlines-busiest-hubs-2026/

1 ORD 250k annual flights
2 DEN 194k
3 IAH 176k
4 EWR 141k
5 SFO 104k
6 IAD 95k
7 LAX 41k
8 LAS 16k
9 MCO 15k
10 BOS 14k

ranking by seats MCO moves into 8th place

This has been discussed somewhat ad nauseum and there's an extensive thread on it.

In general the Florida market is somewhat price sensitive and while Spirit vaporizing may open the door a bit further, there's still a relative infestation of LCC/ULCCs in Florida that's probably not going anywhere. The question is not would UA be more competitive in the SE USA but does UA need to be more competitive in the SE and would they make more money competing aggressively there vs. where they could invest the same money in other markets (where UA can command higher fares and RASM).

AA is wounded and probably couldn't mount too significant of a defense of MIA for too long on its own, but if UA tried actively chasing DL market share on their home turf I imagine it would turn into a relatively bloody (red ink) mess for both with UA probably being the first to back down. Plus MCO isn't really that well situated for US domestic connecting traffic (being way out of the way of for anyone who's not either starting at or ending in the Florida area) and I wonder how much utility it would bring to UA international destinations.

What I could see is UA doing more point-to-point flying to MCO selectively (but at a far lower level than a hub) and potentially even some point-to-local-point Express flying to backfill for 3M... But 3M has been gone for a while and UA doesn't seme to have really noticed so perhaps that's not a capacity hole they see a reason to fill.

Is this a.net? LOL

UA has the 2nd best Latin American hub in IAH after MIA (and #1 to GIG and several Mexican destinations). MCO and FLL are low yield areas that UA does not want (or need). There are a few Eastern Caribbean destinations that become a challange for higher yield traffic via IAH, but IAD can handle it. No need to sink money (or planes they don't have) into Florida.

Generally, I agree. But not this part. AA's MIA hub does not exist for the purpose of connecting Texas to New York. And yet AA has a hub there anyway.

And it's a hub I'm somewhat baffled by the longevity of-- but makes sense for Caribbean/Latin America. UA has Latin America covered fairly well from Houston (which is not a great but better than MIA) and the Caribbean is...I have questions if UA could more effectively serve that from from Orlando vs the current IAH and EWR (which has a significant ex-pat population) .

I would rather see a Caribbean hub in SJU than MCO. They certainly could use the economic boost. It would also potentially give better access to Africa if that's deemed to be a future target.

its only about 500 miles shorter than flying from Newark for most African cities (great circle and all that)

Does UA need a Southeast hub?

It depends on how you define "most" and which ones would be the most lucrative destinations. The difference really kicks in with destinations south of the equator - for example, it's 1,200 miles shorter to CPT. But in any event, it would have the huge advantage of avoiding EWR which makes it priceless.

Better to start a new thread than resurrect one that's 12 years old.

I was born and raised in Orlando, live in Orlando to this very day.

I remember when DL had a hub at MCO, I remember when they abandoned it and yes they have sort of brought parts of it back over the years, but selectively.

DL is king at MCO, between DL, VA, LA and now AF, that is a lot of seats, I just don't see UA making a play here.

Plus, MCO can be very price sensitive, yes there is big business here, but compared to the vacation traffic it is tiny.

UA would be smart to maybe do some more point to point, but a full fledged hub, UA would be better served elsewhere.

Huh? It's not even 1200 miles from EWR to MCO -- it's impossible for the great-circle distance from anywhere on the globe to MCO to be 1200 miles shorter than to EWR. The actual difference is... 9 miles: A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

In fact, most of the African cities I found were significantly closer to EWR than MCO. Keep in mind, the point In the continental US closest to Africa is... the eastern tip of Maine.

Perhaps you should read my original post.

My apologies. Yes, SJU is meaningfully closer to southern Africa than EWR is. I just think it's an even less likely place to put a hub than MCO is.

Absolutely, but it would really make United stand out over the competition.