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United Airlines is a true heavyweight of commercial aviation in the US, with an almost ubiquitous presence across the nation’s airports. Much like its ‘big three’ legacy rivals, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, United does not concentrate its operations around a single hub, as is the case for many European flag carriers, but, instead, operates a network of hubs in order to spread its coverage. But which of these handles the most flights?
According to present scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, United Airlines is scheduled to operate a grand total of 1,896,990 flights in 2026, with these services collectively offering 242,601,130 seats in the process. Of these, more than 250,000 flights will depart from one airport alone, but which one is it, and how do its figures compare to United’s other major hubs? Let’s dive deeper into the data and see.
Chicago Sits At The Top Of The Pile
With 250,306 United-marketed departures offering more than 28.6 million seats in 2026, 
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) is United Airlines’ top hub by flights this year. This month, the facility will serve 18,111 United-marketed departures, of which just over half (9,323) will be mainline services. The rest are split between three regional partners that operate United Express feeder flights: GoJet, Republic, and SkyWest.
When it comes to aircraft types, the Embraer E175 is the most commonly deployed model on United-marketed flights out of O’Hare, with 3,527 departures this month. This is almost twice as many as the top mainline aircraft, the Airbus A321neo, on 1,825. Newark (EWR) is United’s top route from O’Hare by frequency, with up to 12 flights a day this March. Omar Idris, United’s Vice President of ORD, said in a January press release that:
“We have spent the past decade building and executing a strategy that is focused on winning brand loyal customers by giving them more value when they fly United. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Chicago.”
Rounding Out The Top Five
Denver International Airport (DEN) is United’s second-largest hub by flights scheduled this year, with 194,200 departures penciled in for 2026. Unlike O’Hare, mainline operations are more dominant here, with regional services operated by SkyWest Airlines only accounting for around a third of United’s flights. Houston (IAH) is the top destination, with up to 11 daily departures, and the Boeing 737-800 is United’s top aircraft in Denver.
Completing the podium, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport sits in third place, with a grand total of 176,734 flights and 21,970,701 seats on United-marketed routes this year. While mainline operations make up the majority of United’s presence here, there is more variety to its regional services, with these being split between three feeder operators: CommuteAir, Mesa Airlines, and Skywest. Chicago is its top route (11 daily flights).
As for the rest of the top five, fourth place belongs to Newark Liberty International (EWR), from which United has scheduled 141,087 flights in 2026. Despite this total being more than 20% lower than Houston’s, its annual seat capacity of 20,791,144 is only around 5.4% lower, hinting at the use of larger aircraft. San Francisco (SFO) completes the top five, and is the last airport with a six-figure sum, with a total of 104,442 United flights in 2026.
Quiet Cabins Only: United Airlines May Ban Passengers Refusing To Use Headphones Inflight
The airline is fed up with bad manners.
The Best Of The Rest
Moving into five-figure totals, there is a considerable gap between sixth and seventh place, with these positions respectively being occupied by Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Indeed, with 95,037 flights, Dulles has almost twice as many services as LAX (49,717), but their seat totals are proportionally much closer, with these hubs respectively offering 11,750,032 and 8,131,846.
There is also a large jump down to eighth place, but the gaps become much smaller after that. Indeed, Las Vegas (LAS) will handle 15,708 United flights this year, with this total being so close to ninth-place Orlando’s (MCO) 15,448 that the latter actually offers more seats (2,837,730 vs 2,758,962). Rounding out the top ten, United Airlines has scheduled a grand total of 13,912 flights from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) this year.
