October 23, 2026 — United Airlines plans to open flight attendant bases at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Sacramento (SMF). That answers the question it left open in September, when it said two new bases were coming but wouldn’t say where.
What happened
On October 22, aviation watcher JonNYC flagged the two locations, and One Mile at a Time, View from the Wing and Paddle Your Own Kanoo all reported them. One Mile at a Time says United had told employees about the bases internally several weeks earlier. A United spokesperson told Paddle Your Own Kanoo the cities are “a good fit for places where our flight attendants already live.”
| Item | What’s known |
|---|---|
| Locations | Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Sacramento (SMF) |
| Type | Satellite bases, described in crew discussions as satellites of Houston (DFW) and San Francisco (SMF) |
| Opening dates | TBA |
| Number of flight attendants | TBA (described as relatively small) |
| Who can go | Current flight attendants bid to transfer, in seniority order; new hires are not assigned to satellite bases |
| DFW flying | About 31 daily departures to six hubs, starting as early as 5:10 a.m., with about eight aircraft overnighting |
| SMF flying | Aircraft overnight; departures start as early as 5 a.m. |
How satellite bases work at United
According to View from the Wing, satellite bases are covered by a letter of agreement (LOA 15) in the 2026 flight attendant contract. It treats them as sub-bases of existing bases, with their flying bid separately. New hires don’t go to satellite bases because there are no supervisors on site.
There’s precedent for these bases closing. United opened a Seattle satellite base in 2020 and announced its closure a year later, saying the cost of bringing in replacement flight attendants from other cities wiped out the savings. View from the Wing argues the new bases are mainly about cutting layover hotel costs. That’s the writer’s view, not United’s stated reason.
What it means for non-revs
- United flight attendants who live in North Texas or the Sacramento area may be able to stop commuting. Watch for the transfer bid, which goes by seniority.
- If you commute today, remember a satellite base can be closed later, as Seattle was. Weigh that before giving up a commute you have worked out at a main base.
- Little change to seats for other pass riders: the bases move where crews start their trips. Nothing reported changes United’s DFW or SMF schedules.
Sources
- One Mile at a Time — United Airlines Opens Flight Attendant Bases In… Dallas & Sacramento?!
- View from the Wing — United Airlines Is Opening A Crew Base At American’s Biggest Hub—Here’s Why
- Paddle Your Own Kanoo — United is Opening Two New Flight Attendant Bases… The Locations Might Surprise You
- InsideFlyer — United to open two new flight attendant bases (September background)
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