Airline Hub-and-Spoke System

In air transportation, hub-and-spoke is a term used to describe a common method for an airline to schedule their flights in an effort to maximize the number of passengers on the aircraft. Air carriers designate one or more strategically located cities as hubs to which its larger aircraft bring most of its passengers and cargo through many scheduled flights. The passengers and cargo are then taken to their respective destinations by smaller regional aircraft belonging to the same carrier or smaller (commuter or feeder) airlines under a code-sharing arrangement. The term originates from the hub being the larger, more strategically centered airport, usually located in a large city and acting as the center of the wheel. The spokes that reach out from the hub, as ...