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Comparing the manmade fabric of Tennessee's Big Four


East Side Urbanite

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I will agree with that assessment.... and did everything possible to avoid  US Airways... they had the dopiest attendants... like B-movie actors who think they're A-list celebrities.  They are poorly trained, and their food sucked (can you say "frozen peas"?).  Now that they're a part of AA, I will absolutely avoid them... AA kept the plane my family and I were on to London back in July '12 at the gate at DFW for four hours (just shy of the "bill of rights")... then they gave some lame-oh excuse about needing a part to replace... and then they got it just in time.  Coincidentally, the grounds crew unions were threatening a strike.  Hmmmmm!   United is not much better than US Airways. Not that airline food is noted for its appetizing appeal, but I have had some very good meals on AA and DLTA. Or maybe I was just extremely hungry.  Luckily now, SWA goes pretty much everywhere I need to go when it's out of Tennessee... or there's always DLTA, with whom I have waaaaaay too many miles.

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Since we're discussing airports/aviation (my favorite) if y'all haven't, please sign this petition:  http://bna2bay.com/

 

It's to supports a flight to the Bay Area. CVB/MNAA are really looking to get one for many reasons, but for one to make it easier for tech folks to get to BNA to invest here. I'm holding out hope that Virgin America will add flights to SFO when the hotel opens  :good:

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There are nonstop flights to Toronto.  Does Canada count as another country?   There are also seasonal flights to Cancun, Montego Bay and Punta Cana.

 

This. And we do actually have customs. There are also a small number of international charter flights from time to time.

 

 

It should be noted that you don't actually have to have international flights to be an international airport. Look at Huntsville International Airport.

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This. And we do actually have customs. There are also a small number of international charter flights from time to time.

 

 

It should be noted that you don't actually have to have international flights to be an international airport. Look at Huntsville International Airport.

HSV is at least respectable, look at KECP (Northwest Florida Beaches Int'l)

 

Side note, Virgin America has a press meeting at Dallas Love Field tomorrow. Oh, I wonder what it could be.  :shades:

I remember before the recession that VA wants to expand into over 25 other markets, such as us and Jacksonville.

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The cargo flight ya'll are referring to is the China Airlines flight using a 747-400. That massive plane could fly straight up fully loaded using <2000 ft of runway. Anyway, it serviced Nashville until the recession. I think it was twice per week and yes, it was mostly for Dell computers. The flight was dropped and cargo routed to the ATL flight. It was supposed to resume when the demand returned

 

Also, the FedEx facility at the airport was undersized from the beginning (from what I was told), but I do not know if it was ever expanded. I believe I recall that had FedEx bought about 150 acres of land next to the airport several years ago. There was some wild speculation about it at the time.

 

......but really, that was one helluva plane to see!!!!!!!

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I don't understand the draw towards Southwest that people have.

.

I prefer southwest because it's a consistently good product. It's always a 737, it's mostly on time, and the gates are always adequate.

Compare that to American, Delta, and United. Half the time you end up 2 hours late in some subterranean gate in the Denver airport where you half to walk outside in the -10 degree snow storm to your puddle jumping plane where they won't even serve water. (I'm not exaggerating here, I've been through this exact process many times).

My favorite airline is Alaskan (flew them from the Bay Area a lot!) but alas, they don't serve BNA.

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I would pick Chattanooga if I could not live in Nashville. Only 120 miles from Atlanta. Do not care for Knoxville or Memphis for various reasons, but Chattanooga is a smaller Nashville, although I  like the music scene of Memphis.

 

As I stated in another thread, I never understood the division of Memphis and East Memphis. I think that was a mistake having 2 downtowns for a city it's size.

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Nashville Int'l Airport (BNA) is by far the largest passenger airport in TN.  Memphis Int'l (MEM) has suffered badly since Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest Airlines.  MEM was officially de-hubbed by Delta in September 2012, however it continues to be an important cargo airport due to FedEx.  For 2012, BNA ranked as the 34th busiest US airport for passenger traffic (10.35 million passengers); MEM ranked 41st (4.59 million passengers). 

 

BNA draws passengers from a larger, faster growing and wealthier geographic area.  2013 was BNA's busiest year on record, surpassing the record set when American Airlines still operated a hub.  BNA also offers a great deal of competition among carriers which have resulted in good air fares which continue to draw passengers.  Southwest Airlines controls 54% of the market and uses BNA as an important focus city for its network offering approximately 95 nonstop flights daily to cities across the US.  American Airlines/US Airways, Delta, United, Frontier, Air Canada, Aeromexico and Seaport are the other top carriers at BNA.  Currently there are 380 passenger flights per day at BNA serving 51 destinations with nonstop flights. 

 

MEM currently has less than 85 flights per day on all airlines serving the city.  Delta remains the largest carrier but now operates only 35 daily flights, down from 240 flights per day in 2009.  As a result, MEM has been seeking new carriers to fill the gap, however only Southwest and Frontier Airlines have entered the market.  Southwest currently offers 7 flights per day to MEM serving Chicago, Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa and Houston.  Frontier Airlines has one daily flight to Denver.  There are currently no international passenger flights serving Memphis.  For many years MEM has had some of the highest airfares in the country due to lack of competition.  Ironically, MEM opened a large new parking garage at the time of the de-hubbing and has recently announced plans to demolish parts of the unused 1960s era concourses. 

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Is there any activity at the Air National Guard Base next to the airport? Or whatever it is called. I remember I used to see the C-130s flying all the time as a kid. Seems like I have not seen much activity the past few years.

 

The Air National Guard uniti is still there. Of course the C-130s have been gone for over a year now. The new $28 million hanger sits empty. The Maj. General announced recently that he is attempting to get the helicopters stationed at the Smyrna airport for the TN Army National Guard. Currently, their helicopters sit outside in the weather because they do not have $70 million in funding to build a hanger to house them. The Maj General said it is the "right thing to do" to utilize taxpayer money. BNA has the hanger the Army Guard needs.

 

Logistics and coordination between Army/Air Force are the issues. But hopefully.......

 

http://www.fox17.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/multimillion-dollar-hangar-sits-empty-john-dunn-20167.shtml

 

 

Can't we all play nice and get along together?

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The Air National Guard uniti is still there. Of course the C-130s have been gone for over a year now. The new $28 million hanger sits empty. The Maj. General announced recently that he is attempting to get the helicopters stationed at the Smyrna airport for the TN Army National Guard. Currently, their helicopters sit outside in the weather because they do not have $70 million in funding to build a hanger to house them. The Maj General said it is the "right thing to do" to utilize taxpayer money. BNA has the hanger the Army Guard needs.

 

Logistics and coordination between Army/Air Force are the issues. But hopefully.......

 

http://www.fox17.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/multimillion-dollar-hangar-sits-empty-john-dunn-20167.shtml

 

 

Can't we all play nice and get along together?

 

There has been a huge push lately for joint basing, as it does help quite a bit from a logistics standpoint.  Why have four or five bases within a 30 mile radius when one joint base would serve the same purpose without the massive administrative duplication?  It's quite the fad up here in the DC area.  For instance, all of my official administrative services are provided at Andrews AFB (technically now Joint Base Andrews), even though I'm Navy.  This sort of push has saved the DoD quite a bit.  No reason that the TNANG and the TNARNG can't do the same in Nashville.

 

As a back note, my father's unit was the 118th Airlift Wing (now just the 118th Wing).  Many fond memories on the base, getting up close with the 130s when I was just a kid.  I was so sad to see their flying mission end, hopefully it'll be back.  They're one of the oldest flying National Guard units with a ton of history and heritage, and it sucks to see it all stripped away because of political maneuvering. Unfortunately for our state, our ANG no longer has an operating tactical airlift component...probably the most useful type of cargo component an ANG can have, second only really to a fighter-interceptor unit in actually fulfilling the real mission of an ANG (homeland defense and disaster support).

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So wikipedia says that the 118th Wing is now used for drones? I did not know that? All I know is it is very depressing driving by there now because it always looks vacant.

 

 

Under a restructuring plan, the Air Force announced earlier this year[when?] the unit's C-130 transport planes would be replaced with MQ-9 Remote Piloted Aircraft, also known as the Reaper drone. The plan also calls for the 118th Wing to get a cyber-security unit and expand their intelligence squadron.

 

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