Here is comparison of the 4 largest (single airline) hubs between the US and Mexico, Central and South America. I am not including the Caribbean. Noticeably absent are places like FLL, JFK, MCO, and LAX, but I wanted to focus the main spots. For AA, MIA and DFW. For UA, IAH. For DL, ATL. Im am using midweek departure dates for frequency, but will point out when an airline has weekend service only. I used February to grab the schedules, though I noted that DFW-MID starts March 2 so I allowed that in.

I made this thread to answer my own curiosity. Comment if you like:

AA at MIA:

Mexico:

MEX - 4x Daily
MTY - Daily
CUN - 6x Daily
CZM - 2x Weekly

Central America:

BZE - 2x Daily
GUA - 3x Daily
RTB - Weekly
SAP - 9x Weekly
TGU - 8x Weekly
SAL - 9x Weekly
MGA - 20x Weekly
LIR - 2x Daily
SJO - 4x Daily
PTY - 3x Daily

South America:

BOG - 2x Daily
CLO - Daily
MDE - 11x Weekly
BAQ - Daily
CCS - 2x Daily
MAR - 4x Weekly
UIO - 2x Daily
GYE - 2x Daily
LIM - 2x Daily
LPB/VVI - Daily
SCL - 8x Weekly
EZE - 2x Daily
GRU - 15x Weekly
GIG - 10x Weekly
POA - 5x Weekly
SSA - 4x Weekly
REC - 6x Weekly
BSB - Daily
CNF - 5x Weekly
MAO - Daily

UA at IAH

Mexico:

MTY - 47x Weekly
MEX - 47x Weekly
GDL - 4x Daily
SJD - 16x Weekly
CUU - Daily
PVR - 15x Weekly
ACA - Daily
ZLO - 3x Weekly
ZIH - Daily
OAX - Daily
HUX - 3x Weekly
CZM - Daily
CUN - 38x Weekly
MID - Daily
CME - Daily
VSA - Daily
TAM - Daily
VER - 2x Daily
TRC - Daily
SLP - Daily
QRO - Daily
BJX - 4x Daily
MLM - Daily
PBC - Daily

Central America:

BZE - 17x Weekly
GUA - 3x Daily
RTB - 3x Weekly
SAP - Daily
TGU - Daily
SAL - 15x Weekly
MGA - 16x Weekly
LIR - 19x Weekly
SJO - 28x Weekly
PTY - 2x Daily

South America:

BOG - 2x Daily
CCS - Daily
UIO - Daily
LIM - Daily
SCL - Daily
EZE - Daily
GRU - Daily
GIG - Daily

DL at ATL:

Mexico:

MTY - 3x Daily
GDL - Daily
MEX - 5x Daily
CZM - 8x Weekly
CUN - 6x Daily
SJD - 8x Weekly
PVR - 8x Weekly
BJX - Daily

Central America:

BZE - 10x Weekly
GUA - 2x Daily
RTB - Weekly
SAP - Daily
TGU - Daily
SAL - Daily
MGA - Daily
LIR - 2x Daily
SJO - 15x Weekly
PTY - Daily

South America:

BOG - Daily
MDE - Daily
CTG - 2x Weekly
CCS - Weekly
UIO - Daily
LIM - Daily
SCL - Daily
EZE - Daily
GRU - Daily
GIG - Daily

AA at DFW:

MTY - 5x Daily
MEX - 5x Daily
GDL - 2x Daily
SJD - 22x Weekly
PVR - 4x Daily
ZIH - Weekly
CZM - 8x Weekly
CUN - 31x Weekly
ZCL - 3x Weekly
MZT - Daily
CUU - 13x Weekly
TRC - Daily
SLP - 2x Daily
BJX - 3x Daily
QRO - 2x Daily
MLM - Daily
PBC - Daily
MID - 5x Weekly

Central America:

BZE - 8x Weekly
GUA - 8x Weekly
RTB - Weekly
SAL - 5x Weekly
MGA - Weekly
LIR - Daily
SJO - Daily
PTY - 3x Weekly

South America:

BOG - Daily
UIO - Daily
LIM - Daily
SCL - Daily
EZE - Daily
GRU - Daily

Totals by Destination:

Mexico:

IAH: 24
DFW: 18
ATL: 7
MIA: 4

Central America:

IAH: 10
MIA: 10
ATL: 10
DFW: 8

South America:

MIA: 21
ATL: 10
IAH: 8
DFW: 6

Totals by Weekly Frequency:

Mexico:

IAH: 330
DFW: 258
ATL: 136
MIA: 79

Central America:

IAH: 147
MIA: 145
ATL: 89
DFW: 40

South America:

MIA: 187
IAH: 63
ATL: 59
DFW: 42

[Edited 2016-01-23 07:41:36]

What analysis is there to do? MIA is the impregnable fortress and everything else wishes it was MIA.   

MIA gets a lot of hate here but it is the undisputed best hub to Latin America given both its location and the massive demand to everywhere. The only hub with a slight regional advantage is IAH to Mexico.

Quoting DolphinAir747 (Reply 1): The only hub with a slight regional advantage is IAH to Mexico.

I think its clear MIA is the King of Latin America on the whole, but what I did find interesting is that IAH has more service to Central America than MIA. Of course, MIA blows everyone out of the water to South America.

MIA isn't just about AA, it's also about the popularity of MIA in LatAm in general. Go anywhere in LatAm and MIA will be at the forefront of advertising for shopping and real estate investments. Something that Texas doesn't do to the same extent, further driving traffic and popularity.

In your analysis you might also want to include carriers from LatAm serving those airports, e.g. The fact that AV is doing MIA-SAL/SAP/BOG/LIM/CTG/MDE/CLO in spite of MIA being an AA hub and also consider the hub traffic between LatAm and places beyond, e.g. people flying SAL/BOG/PTY-MIA/DFW/IAH on AV/CM and then connecting on LH to FRA/MUC.

Quoting ua900 (Reply 3): MIA isn't just about AA, it's also about the popularity of MIA in LatAm in general. Go anywhere in LatAm and MIA will be at the forefront of advertising for shopping and real estate investments. Something that Texas doesn't do to the same extent, further driving traffic and popularity. In your analysis you might also want to include carriers from LatAm serving those airports, e.g. The fact that AV is doing MIA-SAL/SAP/BOG/LIM/CTG/MDE/CLO in spite of MIA being an AA hub and also consider the hub traffic between LatAm and places beyond, e.g. people flying SAL/BOG/PTY-MIA/DFW/IAH on AV/CM and then connecting on LH to FRA/MUC.

MIA has a very good mix of business/finance, VFR, and leisure traffic to Latin America. NYC is second though its location doesn't make it a good connecting hub. MCO comes right after in terms of O&D. IAH is probably next, O&D wise but it's disproportionately large to Mexico and much smaller to the rest of Latin America.

With the recessions in multiple Latin American countries now, wealthy Latin Americans are investing a ton of money in real estate in MIA to make their money safe.

[Edited 2016-01-23 07:29:33]

Quoting DolphinAir747 (Reply 4): IAH is probably next, O&D wise but it's disproportionately large to Mexico and much smaller to the rest of Latin America.

I'm wouldn't say that, according to the list, IAH serves the same number of destinations to central America. It lacks in deep S. America which is understandable.

Doesn't ATL have a flight to BJX?

Quoting ua900 (Reply 3): n your analysis you might also want to include carriers from LatAm serving those airports, e.g. The fact that AV is doing MIA-SAL/SAP/BOG/LIM/CTG/MDE/CLO in spite of MIA being an AA hub and also consider the hub traffic between LatAm and places beyond, e.g. people flying SAL/BOG/PTY-MIA/DFW/IAH on AV/CM and then connecting on LH to FRA/MUC.

I would have included that in the OP, but this is an analysis of the hubs more so than foreign carriers. I don't think we have to tell anyone that MIA is king of Latin America.

I worked on this over several days. I would love to see foreign carriers, as well as EWR/JFK, MCO, and LAX in the analysis too. Maybe I can get to that at some point.

Quoting DolphinAir747 (Reply 4): MIA has a very good mix of business/finance, VFR, and leisure traffic to Latin America. NYC is second though its location doesn't make it a good connecting hub. MCO comes right after in terms of O&D. IAH is probably next, O&D wise but it's disproportionately large to Mexico and much smaller to the rest of Latin America.

Its not just Mexico. IAH-Central America is very large as well. In South America, IAH-BOG/CCS/GIG are very large markets, but the other destinations are mainly connections. ORD and DFW are far more Mexico top heavy than IAH when it comes to Latin America O&D.

Overall, MIA, MCO, NYC, and LAX are certainly larger than IAH to Latin America from an O&D perspective. But if memory serves me right, I believe IAH is next in line after those four.

Quoting TheAccountant (Reply 6): Doesn't ATL have a flight to BJX?

They do. I edited the OP to account for it.

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Thread starter): South America: BOG - 2x Daily CLO - Daily MDE - 11x Weekly BAQ - Daily CCS - 2x Daily MAR - 4x Weekly UIO - 2x Daily GYE - 2x Daily LIM - 2x Daily LPB/VVI - Daily SCL - 8x Weekly EZE - 2x Daily GRU - 15x Weekly GIG - 10x Weekly POA - 5x Weekly SSA - 4x Weekly REC - 6x Weekly BSB - Daily CNF - 5x Weekly MAO - Daily

What about AA's daily flight, MIA-MVD?

IAH has actually been cut. They used to serve ~30 cities in Mexico.

I may be wrong but I dont think IAH-CCS operates daily, also ATL-CCS is missing on that list, although DL only flies that route once a week if Im not mistaking, the service is still there.

Quoting edgaren (Reply 11): I may be wrong but I dont think IAH-CCS operates daily, also ATL-CCS is missing on that list, although DL only flies that route once a week if Im not mistaking, the service is still there.

You are correct, at present it is running 5-6 /wk.

DL to CTG is actually 3 weekly, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday

Thanks for doing this.

Quoting FlyingSicilian (Reply 10): IAH has actually been cut. They used to serve ~30 cities in Mexico.

And at one point, Continental talked of taking that up to 45!

-Dave

DFW-LIM today was 109 pax..actually 108 pax as one the pax (me) got off due to a 4 hour mechanical delay on the B757. One of the brakes needed to be replaced and it took a while for some reason for the part to come in. I wound up flying back home instead.   

MIAEZE and MIAGRU are 18w each with daylights operating FrSaSuMo.

Thanks for all the work. I am still waiting for MSY to become a dominant hub.   

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Thread starter): South America: BOG - 2x Daily CLO - Daily MDE - 11x Weekly BAQ - Daily

Still sorta surprised that AA can't justify a CTG flight in there with its Miami-Colombia services

When I have time, Ill update the list with the corrections mentioned.

So what is #5 on flights ? AA at PHX?

Quoting washingtonflyer (Reply 20): So what is #5 on flights ? AA at PHX?

UA at EWR would be #5.

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 18): Still sorta surprised that AA can't justify a CTG flight in there with its Miami-Colombia services

I think the airport tax has influenced AA decision on flying to BAQ instead, plus AV already flies the CTG-MIA route. I know that the tax decreased recently so it wouldn't surprise me if they start flying there not just from MIA but possibly ORD. Maybe even give jetblue and avianca competition on the JFK-CTG

[Edited 2016-01-24 12:51:35]

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Thread starter):

I really like this topic and the amount of work that you put into it. The big thing about MIA is that not only is it a major connecting
hub for A.A. but that it generates significant O and D to and from Central and South America. DFW, IAH and ATL do not have nearly
the amount of O and D that Miami generates.

Frankly I am a bit surprised that DFW does not have more South American destinations being that is the main hub for A.A.

I am not really sure if I can trust your list at least two flights I found several mistakes from Houston Just as an example on flights to Queretaro (QET) you said they were daily, when there's actually three flights every day. They are much more frequencies to Mexico been the ones so I wouldn't really make a judgment based on incorrect data

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Reply 7): I would have included that in the OP, but this is an analysis of the hubs more so than foreign carriers. I don't think we have to tell anyone that MIA is king of Latin America.

From what I see it seems to be more of an analysis of US3 at their respective hubs. Many other carriers fly to LatAm from these hubs, I think all of them should be listed for good measure if we're talking about major US-Latin America hubs and define those as DFW, IAH, ATL and MIA.

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 18): Still sorta surprised that AA can't justify a CTG flight in there with its Miami-Colombia services

AV does provide daily service on anything from 318 to 320. Maybe it's the lack of a 318 in the AA fleet that prevents daily service or perhaps even the lack comp meals and comp liquor in Y on AA   

Quoting dfwjim1 (Reply 23): I really like this topic and the amount of work that you put into it. The big thing about MIA is that not only is it a major connecting hub for A.A. but that it generates significant O and D to and from Central and South America. DFW, IAH and ATL do not have nearly the amount of O and D that Miami generates.

   +1 - great topic and yes, MIA is far bigger on O&D than the others. Thanks OP.

Quoting ua900 (Reply 25): Maybe it's the lack of a 318 in the AA fleet that prevents daily service or perhaps even the lack comp meals and comp liquor in Y on AA

AA does still serve free meals on its flights to Colombia. They are poor quality IMHO (a sandwich and some chips or a bagel and yogurt) but they are free thanks to the competitive nature of the market...

Quoting pipeafcr (Reply 22): so it wouldn't surprise me if they start flying there not just from MIA but possibly ORD

It would certainly surprise me (and I'm sure quite a few others) if AA did anything of the sort from ORD.

MIA and JFK yes. ORD, shocking.
Seems very unlikely that they would do that.

Quoting ua900 (Reply 25): Maybe it's the lack of a 318 in the AA fleet that prevents daily service or perhaps even the lack comp meals and comp liquor in Y on AA

AA serves free meals in coach on all flights to South America regardless of length.

This is a cool list to look at, but only shows destinations. In the end, to really compare you would need to compare ASM's from each hub. Marking 1x ERJ to 1x 77W as the same makes the gap between MIA and IAH--in particular--look much smaller.

Quoting washingtonflyer (Reply 20): So what is #5 on flights ? AA at PHX?

Quoting LAXdude1023 (Reply 21): UA at EWR would be #5.

I am curious to know how LAX, CLT, IAD, JFK, FLL, MCO and even ORD fit into a top ten...

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 27): MIA and JFK yes. ORD, shocking.

I would see them adding a 1x weekly CLT-CTG flight (CTG is on the Caribbean) before I see anything from ORD...

Quoting usflyer msp (Reply 31): I would see them adding a 1x weekly CLT-CTG flight (CTG is on the Caribbean) before I see anything from ORD...

I could see, well, neither.

Again, we're talking about a place in Colombia that they thus far haven't seen fit to (re)serve from MIA... despite the likes of B6 and DL growing there.

Quoting usflyer msp (Reply 26): AA does still serve free meals on its flights to Colombia. They are poor quality IMHO (a sandwich and some chips or a bagel and yogurt) but they are free thanks to the competitive nature of the market...

Quoting mah4546 (Reply 28): AA serves free meals in coach on all flights to South America regardless of length.

Alright, so we're down to low quality and no comp booze. AV has 7 y.o. Flor de Cana, UA, AA, DL seem to be stuck on bottom of the shelf Barcadi. Similar issue with wines.

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 32): Again, we're talking about a place in Colombia that they thus far haven't seen fit to (re)serve from MIA... despite the likes of B6 and DL growing there.

AA instead serves Barranquilla - they are less than 60 miles apart. AA isn't ignoring the area completely, although, yes, I still do think it's surprising AA does not fly to Cartagena. And AA has never served CTG.

Quoting dfwjim1 (Reply 23): Frankly I am a bit surprised that DFW does not have more South American destinations being that is the main hub for A.A.

I agree with that. As it is, three of those South America destinations are new from DFW: UIO, BOG, and LIM (resumed destination). AA tried GIG-DFW and dropped it a few years ago. I'd like to see DFW-LPB but I know that's unlikely.

From what I saw and hear, DFW-UIO is doing very well since it started in December. When I flew it, it was completley full.

Quoting mah4546 (Reply 34): AA instead serves Barranquilla - they are less than 60 miles apart. AA isn't ignoring the area completely, although, yes, I still do think it's surprising AA does not fly to Cartagena. And AA has never served CTG.

Cartagena is heavily flown Florida from MIA with AV & FLL with Spirit and Jetblue, that is 3 daily A320's.

One does have to wonder though why AA doesn't fly to CTG with all the tourism going there now. Even Delta flies to CTG from ATL.

Quoting mah4546 (Reply 34): they are less than 60 miles apart.

Yeah, but not the most efficient to get between.

Just did that drive recently: it's all back-roads, no major highway, and can easily take well over 2hrs if there's obstruction ahead of the toll booths.  

AA could even do MIA-CTG with an EMB-175 if they wanted to ease into the market. I think a 319 is much more likely though.