: being or relating to a system of routing air traffic in which a major airport serves as a central point for coordinating flights to and from other airports

Examples of hub-and-spoke in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The region’s vibrant, open trading networks would likely degenerate into more of a hub-and-spoke system, with China as the hub and subjugated countries at the end of the spokes. Andrew S. Erickson, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2024 For its part, the United States has a set of bilateral alliances and partnerships in the region based on hub-and-spoke relationships, with Washington as the hub and Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand forming the spokes. Andrew F. Krepinevich, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2023 The properties proved much more valuable to trucking companies in a sector that relies heavily on a hub-and-spoke network of terminals to move freight. Paul Berger, WSJ, 5 Dec. 2023 Adopting a hub-and-spoke model: Some banks are building a large flagship branch in a central business district, with smaller suburban branches or iTMs in rural areas targeting location-specific customer needs. Erin Slater, Forbes, 28 Nov. 2023 Because most airlines in the U.S. operate on a hub-and-spoke model — passengers are funneled from smaller airports to major hubs, then onward to either other hubs or smaller airports — connection time is crucial. Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 13 Nov. 2023 Icelandair operates a hub-and-spoke model with all flights from the U.S. passing through Reykjavik before heading on to other European destinations. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 12 Sep. 2023 That also created a challenge for airlines with hub-and-spoke networks to get the planes to the right places, as the smaller planes had more flexibility of being point-to-point, Birdsong adds. Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 July 2023 The bright orange Birmingham Xpress buses rolled out last September, with 32 stops along a 10-mile east-west corridor across the city—the first bus route to break free of Birmingham’s hub-and-spoke legacy system. Marianne Lavelle | Inside Climate News, al, 19 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hub-and-spoke.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hub-and-spoke was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near hub-and-spoke

Cite this Entry

“Hub-and-spoke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hub-and-spoke. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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