UA_Flyer

I woke up this morning (on a UA transpac flight) and saw on X and other social medias reporting UA is considering a new hub in the south.

Many speculated it could be a city in Florida.

Although I love to see it, I have my doubts.

Yes, people are moving to Florida at fast pace but that reflects the increasing aging population and remote working arrangements.

What do you all think?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

FLL? But just more frequencies? Hub down there doesn't make sense unless Central/South America traffic. Or maybe FLL w/ a lot of Caribbean destinations?

mahasamatman

You saw it on social media? That pretty much sums up the accuracy.

I have a feeling they're conflating "new hub" with the long-rumoured "new corporate headquarters".

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Florida seems out of the way for a UA headquarters. Maybe Houston? But I can see Kirby thinking of where he'd want a home - and Houston probably ain't it.

mahasamatman

I never said anything about Florida - the OP did. The old rumour is about moving HQ from Chicago to Houston.

tryathlete

Anything but Chicago! Maybe somewhere in the Southeast?

wt_fresca

I'd take anything from "View from the Wing" with a grain of salt, but xJonNYC is the one who initially brought it up so there might be at least some credibility.
UA does fly their shiny A321neo to MCO (among other FL airports) and they do have a broom closet of a United Club there so there's a chance it becomes a focus city maybe?
Rumors are fun lol

worldtrav

United also recently opened a maintenance hub in TPA.

United747

United does maintenance at a lot of line stations - PDX, HNL, SEA, etc. None, IMO, hub or corporate HQ candidates.

aCavalierInCoach

I think there might be some credence to it -- I suspect with some of the migration and growth in FL you have a catchment profile that is looking a lot more attractive than it used to given the growth in the area.

If true MCO/FLL/TPA would all be candidates but I think TPA would be in the lead - between airport set-up, capacity, regional economics and business tilt. But I still am pretty skeptical about it. There's a ton of O&D coverage into these destinations and it feels a little bit like Boston or San Diego where you'll end up in a knife fight because you can't generate any advantage from hub/spoke given the geography. And DL seems to have no reservations about dumping capacity into FL via ATL including both frequency and widebodies, so would expect a fairly dramatic competitive response.

UA's aircraft order book almost suggests they need domestic expansion and maybe this is the most logical, but just seems like an extremely risky proposition.

O62

I assume this is because they need big hangars and you can only get so many giant hangars at airports so they have to spread them out? Are there any maintenance facilities where UA does not fly or where only served by regionals?

mduell

MCO is already bigger than CLE, and TPA/FLL are close. But do any of them have the gates available or planned to make a hub out of?

dkc715

I could be mistaken, but didn't UA try to build a mini hub in MCO in the late 80s? Could have been during the same years they served Micky D's happy meals to Florida. It lasted a few years before they retrenched, presumably during a bankruptcy.

Google to the rescue. Yes they did. 1991. A four year effort.

https://thefloridasqueeze.com/2023/1...ub-in-orlando/

UA_Flyer

Thanks for sharing the link. It brings back memories.

i started flying United out of Miami around the time Pam Am sold its Miami operation to United.

My favorite flight was the MIA-MCO-MiA on the 757 and the former PanAm 727 aircraft between MIA-DCA. That DCA-MIA flight was very popular with politicians back then for their weekend getaway trips.

JimInOhio

DL also made MCO a hub for awhile.