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Browsing Tag: NOC

Touring the United Airlines Network Operations Center in Chicago

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Inside the United NOC - Photo: Jason Rabinowitz

Inside the United NOC – Photo: Jason Rabinowitz

Your typical airline headquarters and operations center is somewhere near a major hub airport, usually in some nondescript building with views that don’t really inspire much of anything. United, however, couldn’t be any further from the norm. Inside Chicago’s Willis Tower, once the tallest building in the world, the once largest airline in the world is managed by motivated individuals around the clock.

The United NOC is located in the Willis Tower in Chicago - Photo: Jason Rabinowitz

The United NOC is located in the Willis Tower in Chicago – Photo: Jason Rabinowitz

I have been to a few airline operation centers in the past, but never the control center of an airline quite as massive as United. Hundreds of people, across an entire floor of the Willis Tower, are dedicated to keeping United and United Express moving efficiently and safely, a task that is far from easy.

Touring the Southwest Airlines Network Operations Control

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The Southwest Airlines NOC with screens showing Airline Operations

The Southwest Airlines NOC with screens showing airline operations

In May of this year, Southwest Airlines unveiled a new crown jewel at their Dallas Love Field headquarters: their Network Operations Control (NOC).  If the employees are the heart of the airline, the brain that keeps the airline moving day in and day out is the NOC.

During Media Day, we were given a tour of the NOC — it almost felt like being in Batman’s lair.