Charlotte is American Airlines’ #2 hub; 700+ daily departures

With 53 million seats in 2019, Charlotte is American Airlines’ second-largest hub after Dallas Fort Worth (75 million). 49 million – or 92% – of AA’s seats at Charlotte are domestic. Since 2016, when the hub became fully under the American brand post-US Airways merger, AA has added nearly four million seats.

Over 700 daily departures

On the 26^th November, AA has 1,428 movements at Charlotte – over 700 departures – across 140 destinations. On average, each destination has five departures a day. 124 destinations are domestic and almost all are within a 1,000-mile radius of its hub, around two-hours flying. The 1,000-mile boundary extends to around OMA, OKC and down to DFW.

Source: OAG Mapper.

Orlando tops American Airlines’ top-10 destinations

On an airport-pair basis, AA’s top-10 destinations from Charlotte are below. Not surprisingly, they are led by Orlando, one of AA’s 16 destinations in Florida from its North Carolina hub. On this November day, AA has 89 daily departures 16 Florida. As the crow flies, number-three, Greenville-Spartanburg, in South Carolina, is just 75 miles from Charlotte. Such is the importance of feed. At the city-pair level, AA has 30 daily departures to NYC.

Destination	AA’s daily departures*
Orlando	11
Dallas Fort Worth	10
Greenville-Spartanburg	10
New York LGA	10
Chicago ORD	10
Atlanta	9
Boston	9
Baltimore	9
Charlottesville	9
Charleston	9
Source: OAG Schedules Analyser. *Based on the 26^th November 2019.

Highly pronounced waves

For AA, Charlotte is very much about connections. An estimated 37 million people connected there in the year to September 2019. To this end, AA has eight (or arguably nine) pronounced waves a day. They last about two hours and they tend to have a one-hour period for both arrivals and departures. Its busiest wave, with around 160 movements – 80 arrivals, 80 departures – is its second: from 0800 until 1000. Clearly, the arrival bank of this wave is also important for inbound P2P.

Source: OAG Schedules Analyser. Based on the 26th November 2019.

American Airlines’ top-20 connecting routes

AA’s top connecting route is Jacksonville, Florida, to Norfolk, Virginia. This sees strong demand as a result of the navy. AA has only one international route in its top-20: Boston to Cancun. About 15% of AA’s connecting passengers at Charlotte involve an international airport, with the Caribbean – US by far its most significant international market with over three million connecting passengers.