Los Angeles global Airport: Which Airlines Have Hubs There?

Zdjęcie: los-angeles-international-airport:-which-airlines-have-hubs-there?

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of the largest airports in the United States. The primary airport serving the second-largest city in the US, many different airlines have hubs or operating bases at the California facility. Located about 18 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, LAX remains the busiest airport on the West Coast.

It is America’s most important gateway for transpacific travel. The facility features four parallel runways and is operated by Los Angeles World Airports.

Los Angeles Mega Hub

Photo: By Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland – Delta Air Lines Airbus A320-212; N368NW@LAX;11.10.2011/623oc, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26712513

In 2023, the last year for which there is reliable data available, over 75 million passengers passed through LAX. This makes the airport the eighth-busiest worldwide. Additionally, the airport is the busiest globally for origin-and-destination traffic, with only 12% of passengers connecting through the facility.

The airport is also a major hub for cargo traffic. Multiple different cargo airlines have hubs at LAX and it is routinely ranked as one of the five busiest U.S. airports for cargo traffic.

LAX stands out among other US airports in many key ways. However, the most striking might be that it is the only airport that serves as a hub for all three legacy airlines. But, they are not the only carriers operating a hub at LAX. Let’s take a deeper look at the Los Angeles mega hub and which airlines have a major operational base there.

Delta Air Lines is the largest carrier at LAX by market share

According to data from Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), roughly one in five passengers passing through the facility are Delta passengers. Los Angeles International Airport is a major hub for business travelers. Delta Air Lines, as an airline focusing on premium travel, caters heavily to these kinds of high-spending travelers.

From LAX, Delta serves destinations across the globe. It also operates an extensive domestic network from the facility. As a result, the airline can efficiently connect passengers from different destinations across the country at LAX. At the same time, the airline can effectively serve the high-spending Los Angeles market with frequent, high-quality air service.

Representative Image | Photo: By Glenn Beltz from Goleta, USA – DSC_6369, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44952816

It is important to note that LAX is not Delta’s only West Coast hub. The airline also has a major international hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). From Seattle, the carrier serves many international destinations in Europe and East Asia, although flights to Australia are only operated from Los Angeles.

American Airlines is the second-largest airline at Los Angeles International Airport

While Delta Air Lines has two different hubs on the West Coast, American Airlines only has one. (It does have a hub at Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), but few would consider this a West Coast hub). As a result, the airline funnels most of its traffic to Asia through this major hub. American Airlines has a route strategy that involves building out large hubs in the American Sun Belt, a region stretching from Florida to Southern California. American Airlines hubs in this geographic region include:

• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
• Miami International Airport (MIA)
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)

Photo: Clément Alloing

Despite having a major hub at LAX, the airline serves relatively few destinations in the Asia-Pacific region. This is because American has a historically weaker presence in the transpacific market, serving only a handful of cities from its Los Angeles hub. Around 15% of passengers passing through LAX are on an American Airlines itinerary. The airline’s regional subsidiary, American Eagle, serves more than a dozen destinations from the Southern California hub, including multiple major ski resort-serving airports.

United Airlines has a secondary West Coast hub at LAX

United Airlines, the third major legacy carrier, also has a hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). However, while LAX serves as a primary West Coast gateway for both Delta and American, the airport is undoubtedly United’s second West Coast hub. From the airport, United flies to far fewer destinations than it does from San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

For most passengers traveling to East Asia or Australia on United flights, it is far more likely that you will connect in San Francisco than Los Angeles. From LAX, the airline primarily aims to serve the local market, which is premium-dense and thus extremely lucrative.

Photo: By Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland – United Airlines Boeing 737-900ER; N37419@LAX;10.10.2011/622ha, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26712819

There could be some signs that this is changing, however. From LAX, United will be launching two new routes this year, taking aim at competitors like Delta. In May, the airline will launch new nonstop services to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), according to AeroRoutes. Both of these services primarily cater to the needs of business travelers. Around 15% of passengers traveling through LAX are flying on a United itinerary.

The final three carriers that have hubs or operate at Los Angeles International Airport are not legacy airlines

Three more passenger airlines have a major presence at LAX, and interestingly enough, transcontinental carrier JetBlue is not one of them. Southwest Airlines, the only non-legacy airline to rival the big three in terms of national market share, has an operating base at the facility. Southwest Airlines flies from LAX to dozens of destinations across the country, and roughly one in ten passengers passing through the airport are doing so on a Southwest flight.

Photo: By Eric Salard – N559WN LAX, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44649799

Alaska Airlines also has a hub at LAX. When Alaska the airline acquired Virgin America back in 2016, a major selling point for the transaction was Virgin’s massive amount of landing slots at LAX. When the carrier was able to begin using these, it drastically expanded its footprint at the airport and launched a handful of lucrative new transcontinental routes.

With a market share of around 6.5%, Alaska Airlines flies to destinations across the United States, Mexico, Central America, and beyond from its Los Angeles hub.

The final carrier with an operating base that is important to mention is the ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant Air (G4). Despite its operating base, Allegiant actually does not even rank as one of the ten largest airlines at LAX by market share.

The carrier is known to have many small bases from which it operates a point-to-point oriented network. From LAX, Allegiant mostly flies to smaller, underserved destinations in the Midwest and Mountain West, as well as in other rural parts of the United States.

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