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A group of roughly 70 United Airlines enthusiasts and frequent flyers took on one of commercial aviation’s most unusual challenges yesterday by attempting to visit all seven of United’s hub airports in a single day.
Known as the “UA 7 Hub Run,” the annual event challenges participants to fly through every United hub within one calendar day. While not officially organized by United Airlines, the carrier has embraced the event, which has quickly become a favorite among aviation enthusiasts and elite MileagePlus members. I kind of want to take part next year. I visited all of Delta’s hubs in a little more than a day a few years back.
This year’s ambitious United itinerary included six flights and seven hubs:
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
- Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Denver International Airport (DEN) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
The challenge began smoothly enough, with the first flight from Newark to Washington arriving ahead of schedule. However, things quickly unraveled when the second flight, from Washington to Chicago, suffered a maintenance-related delay of more than two hours. That delay threatened to derail the entire event.
By the time participants arrived in Chicago, their connection to Houston should have already departed. Fortunately for the hub runners, United’s operations team worked to keep the challenge alive. The flight from Chicago to Houston was held for more than two hours, allowing the group to make their connection. Subsequent flights throughout the day were also delayed with some recovering a small amount of time while others added to the growing disruption. By the end of the marathon, the group had accumulated approximately eight hours of collective delays across the six-flight journey.
Despite the setbacks, the final flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco landed at approximately 11:18 PM (giving participants just enough time to complete the challenge before midnight).
The delays have sparked debate about whether United intentionally held flights to keep the challenge alive. United’s ConnectionSaver technology routinely evaluates whether flights should be delayed briefly to accommodate connecting passengers. While most holds are measured in minutes, the unique circumstances of this event involved around 70 passengers traveling together, which represents a significant portion of some flight loads. Leaving that many customers behind would have created major rebooking challenges across the network. United has never officially stated that it held flights specifically for the hub runners, but the airline was clearly aware of the event. Participants reported gate celebrations, commemorative swag, and enthusiastic support from employees throughout the day.
The UA 7 Hub Run was created by United superfan and Million Miler Carl Brothers, who helped launch the event last year. Many participants are among United’s most loyal customers (including numerous Premier 1K® and Global Services members). For some, the challenge is an elaborate mileage run. For others, it’s simply an opportunity to share a memorable aviation experience with fellow enthusiasts. Regardless of the motivation, completing seven hubs in a single day requires determination, patience, and a little help from the airline.
Anthony’s Take: This year’s participants ultimately succeeded and proved once again that for aviation enthusiasts, the journey is often the destination. I really think I might tag along if this returns in 2027.
(Image Credits: United Airlines and Rekz Dev.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
