I am not a big traveler but I always hear people say “hub” & from what I’m gathering it’s like a home base for certain airlines? Why do people like/not like them?
For example delta has a hub in atl but everyone complains about flying delta out of atl because “it’s a hub”…
In: 2
Airlines have a lot going on. Part of their job is done by pilots and flight attendants operating a flight. Part of their job is servicing planes and making sure they’re all good. The other part is providing services to customers outside of the flight. Hubs make all of these things easier and cheaper.
Number 1: Actually operating flights.
Airlines need to keep costs down and therefore make sure planes are full. Hubs make this job way easier. Think about it this way – let’s say your job was to predict the demand between SF and Jacksonville, Charleston and Nashville. The demand between these cities is less stable and maybe at most can fill one flight a day (this is an example, not real numbers). You decide that only SF to Nashville is a profitable route and have service there. BUT let’s instead say you had a hub at Atlanta that has flights to all the destinations in the southeast? Now you can say – hey what’s the demand between SF and all of the destinations in the Southeast? That demand is really high and more predictable. You can now run 10 flights a day between SF and ATL knowing they’ll be full. And because everybody that wants to go somewhere in the southeast is going to be at Atlanta, you can run multiple flights a day from Atlanta to smaller airports like Jacksonville knowing they’ll be full too. Not to mention the gigantic planes you’ll fly between SF and ATL are going to cost much less to operate per passenger than the smaller plans you’d have to run if you were doing direct flights between SF and a bunch of cities in the southeast. In this way Hubs make it cheaper for airlines to serve a larger network of cities.
Number 2: Servicing the Planes.
Airlines need lots of staff to maintain planes. They also need places to store extra parts etc. Whats cheaper? Having a mechanic crew and parts in every airport you serve? Or having a centralized crew in a hub that can service all planes? This is pretty east. Consolidate. One crew of 20 in a central hub can do the work of 10 crews of 5 in 10 different airports (made up numbers).
Number 3: Servicing Customers.
Airlines don’t just fly you. They offer lots of services at the gate like customer support, lounges, executive check in. Could an airline afford to do all this at every airport they operate in? Probably not. But can they invest in really nice terminals and lounges in a few hubs? For sure they can. And because you’ll probably be flying through one of their hubs (see point 1) you’ll get to experience this level of service at some point in your journey. Another service is rebooking. Think back to point 1. Without a hub, you may only have 1 flight a day to some places. With a hub, you have many flights a day because passenger volume is concentrated. So if there is a cancellation, without a hub, you’re shit out of luck. You have to wait the next day. With a hub, they can offer the service of rebooking you on one of the many flights out the same day. They also can have standby crew concentrated in the hubs to operate the plane and have pre negotiated bulk room rates with hotels at the hub so you can have a place to stay in the event the next flight is the next day
There is more that goes into it, but TL;DR economies of scale play out in aviation just like anywhere else, not just to fly planes but also to service them and provide superior service before and after the flight.
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