Editing Spoke–hub distribution paradigm (section)

==Commercial aviation==
[[File:Emirates_A380-800_(A6-EEC)_departs_London_Heathrow_7June_2015_arp.jpg|thumb|[[Emirates (airline)|Emirates]] is an example of an airline which operates using the hub-and-spoke model, allowing flights between numerous 'spoke' destinations by connecting at the airline's hub at [[Dubai International Airport|Dubai]]]]
{{Main|Airline hub}}
In 1955, Delta Air Lines pioneered the hub-and-spoke system at its hub in [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]],<ref>[http://www.delta.com/about_delta/corporate_information/delta_stats_facts/delta_through_decades/index.jsp Delta Air Lines Newsroom - Press Kit]. Delta.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.</ref> in an effort to compete with [[Eastern Air Lines]]. In the mid-1970s [[FedEx Corporation|FedEx]] adopted the hub-and-spoke model for overnight package delivery. After the airline industry was [[Airline Deregulation Act|deregulated]] in 1978, several other airlines adopted Delta's hub-and-spoke paradigm.

Airlines have extended the hub-and-spoke model in various ways. One method is to create additional hubs on a regional basis and to create major routes between them. That reduces the need to travel long distances between nodes near one another. Another method is to use [[focus city|focus cities]] to implement point-to-point service for high-traffic routes and to bypass the hub entirely.