United Airlines Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby has suggested interest in establishing a United hub at Miami International Airport (MIA), but to do so he would need access to between 40 and 50 gates. This would require fierce bargaining with longtime Miami airline, American Airlines, which currently dominates operations at the Florida airport.

Currently, United has an extensive network of flights across the Atlantic and Pacific, and while its South American reach continues to grow, Kirby thinks that a developed Miami hub would allow the airline to be able to expand deeper into the Caribbean and South America, as an alternative to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Connecting Via A Miami Hub

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Should United ever develop a hub in Miami, it would rely on extensive connections from across the airline’s domestic and international network. Miami would allow United to leverage more services south, a market that otherwise has been forced to operate from Houston, its southernmost hub.

Credit: GCMap

The map above captures all of United’s current Caribbean and South American network, with services operated from Denver International Airport (DEN), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and Houston.

When comparing United to other major US carriers, read below how the airline ranks in Central and South America, and the Caribbean, as per data from Cirium, an online aviation analytics company:

Where United Is Winning With Flights To Central And South America

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Currently, American dominates around 74% of all flights at Miami, so it is no wonder that United wants in. American maintains around 108 daily departures from Miami to South America and the Caribbean. This dwarfs all competition, with LATAM having ten daily flights, Avianca at eight, with Bahamasair and Arajet with two.

Looking to other United hubs, the airline’s largest airport is Chicago, where the carrier offers on average 618 daily departures across its domestic and international network. This is followed by Denver, its largest domestic operation, with 525 daily flights, and Houston, where more than 475 flights arrive and depart each day. Full details of hub operations below:

Comparing its hub operations to the Caribbean and South American destinations as pictured in the map earlier, the most popular gateways include San Juan (SJU), Punta Cana (PUJ), Nassau (NAS), and Montego Bay (MBJ), all with five routes by United, followed by Aruba (AUA), Sao Paulo (GRU), Providenciales (PLS), St Thomas (STT), and Grand Cayman (GCM) with four apiece.

Will Miami Ever Become A United Hub?

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Making Miami possible as a hub for United would require the airline to gain up to 50 gates, something that American is unlikely to give up. This could see the airline look to other opportunities in Florida, whether this be neighboring Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), and through its growing partnership with JetBlue.

JetBlue was ready to pounce after the collapse of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, and the airline is now easily the largest operator at the airport. Fort Lauderdale is already rumoured to become the airline’s third BlueHouse location after New York JFK Airport (JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

Taking into consideration United’s alliance partners Copa (CM) and Avianca (AV), any moves by United in Florida could see the airline eventually crack the dominance that American has enjoyed for decades from Miami; however, Kirby’s biggest challenge is gaining airport gates to justify the establishment of a crew base and the deployment of narrow and widebody aircraft away from its existing hubs.