What's 'hub', doc?

When it comes to flying, airports can be one of 4 things: a hub, a base, a focus city, or none of the above. Many airports are often confused as being hubs when they in actuality are not. So what is the difference?

Hubs are are airports where an airline has major dedicated presence. The crew and the planes will be based at the hub, their may be maintenance facilities, and the airline may have a concourse of gates dedicated just for them that only they use. Hub airports act as a central, well hub, that other airports and flights use to connect with each other. Hubs are also typically the largest airports.

For example: Savannah and Chattanooga are both too small to have nonstop flights to each other, so the solution? Bring them both through Atlanta. In order to get full planes, Delta can have a plane leave Savannah that's full of passengers going to multiple different cities, including Chattanooga. When they land in Atlanta, everyone disperses through ATL. The Chattanooga-bound people from the Savannah flight meet other Chattanooga-bound people from other flights that just flew into Atlanta, and they all converge and board the now full Atlanta to Chattanooga flight.

Hubs are usually maintained by legacy airlines such as Delta, American, and United, and flagship carriers such as British, Copa, and Air Canada. Amsterdam (KLM), Paris (Air France), and Heathrow (British) are strategic flagship hubs positioned to connect travelers between the Americas and Europe. Dubai (Emirates) and Turkey (Turkish) connect the Americas and Europe to Asia, and Panama (Copa) connect North America with Latin America, and so on. Cargo airlines such as Fed Ex, UPS, and Atlas have hubs as well.

Base airports are airports that are not hubs, but the airline still has significant presence at that airport, including leaving their planes parked at that airport and having crew members who live in that city. For instance, Charleston, Tampa, and Richmond are Breeze bases. Since they're not hubs, you likely will not to fly into them for a connecting flight to get to your destination, but their crews may maintain your flight. Low-cost and leisure airlines like Breeze, Southwest, and Allegiant have adopted the base model.

A focus city is an airport that will significant presence of an airline. While your flight may not connect through it, it is possible. Focus cities focus less on connecting passengers, and emphasize bringing passengers to that city, though they still offer connections.

For instance, if you're flying on Southwest and want to go from Pittsburgh to Huntsville, you may have to connect through Nashville or Baltimore, which have big Southwest presence, and two cities their customers may also be looking to visit.

At the end of the day, it's just about getting from point A to point B. The airline you choose will determine what type you will experience, but at least you now know what to look out for.