Why United Airlines Is Returning To A Hub It Walked Away From 12 Years Ago

United Airlines is adding flights from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) and Miami International Airport (MIA), but the move isn’t a return to the hub-and-spoke model it dismantled in 2014. After a hub once averaged more than 150 daily departures, United expects only about 40 daily departures during the peak winter season. The airline says the focus is on capturing local demand with selected nonstop routes rather than rebuilding the connecting bank that helped make Cleveland a major hub. United cited years of unprofitability and regulatory changes that hit regional jet economics when it exited in February 2014.