Memphis International Airport (MEM) News and Updates

[TheKernel91]

2 hours ago, dxfret said:

BNA passenger traffic increased 87.3%  over 2020

https://flynashville.com/news/2021-a-year-in-review-for-nashville-international-and-john-c-tune-airports?fbclid=IwAR0X0zipkduoTComMXfgML_S-niHRNk8giI9KmZuRjsIh2s9PmlIieE_DhY

I hope you brag to the Nashville forum about Memphis Developments and highlights...

[JTM1]

10 hours ago, dxfret said:

BNA passenger traffic increased 87.3%  over 2020

https://flynashville.com/news/2021-a-year-in-review-for-nashville-international-and-john-c-tune-airports?fbclid=IwAR0X0zipkduoTComMXfgML_S-niHRNk8giI9KmZuRjsIh2s9PmlIieE_DhY

BNA owes Southwest a debt of gratitude. Whenever I fly Southwest, I never select Nashville as a connector city. Before you criticize Memphis, perhaps you should have facts to offer and not your skewed opinion. 

[Wayward Memphian]

On 1/25/2022 at 8:13 PM, JTM1 said:

BNA owes Southwest a debt of gratitude. Whenever I fly Southwest, I never select Nashville as a connector city. Before you criticize Memphis, perhaps you should have facts to offer and not your skewed opinion. 

Pay the poster no mind. The poster performs the same act on the  A.Net Civil Aviation forum under another name. 

 

All airports are going to report huge jumps in 2021 numbers when compared to Covid ravaged 2020.  This is from the newest edition of MEM's newsletter that I got on the 25th via email...

 

While the pandemic continues to impact the airport and airline industry, TSA checkpoint figures for 2021 showed a strong rebound from 2020. TSA at MEM screened 1,959,891 in 2021, an increase of 70.4% compared to 2020 and a decrease of 23.8% compared to 2019.
 
Checkpoint numbers were even stronger during the final eight months of 2021, which was down only 16% compared to 2019. MEM finished on a positive note in December, with 189,405 employees and passengers screened.

Now, I suspect 2022 will fall between 10% below to even to 2019 and 2023 will surpass 2019.  I would not be shocked if at this time last year we were 1% to 2% over 2019 but not booking it.

A good goal for Memphis would be about 3.25 million enplanments around 2030. About that time the Ford Plant will be in full swing and lots of current downtown projects done and in the books.

Getting up in the mid 50s would be great.

 

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by Wayward Memphian

[MDC26]

The Airport opened the new Concourse B yesterday and received its first passengers.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/memphis-airport-new-terminal/

Edited February 17, 2022 by MDC26

[MDC26]

St Jude patient lounge opens at airport.

https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/2022/03/07/memphis-international-airport-st-jude-childrens-research-hospital-patient-lounge/9389825002/

[MDC26]

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2022/06/07/american-airlines-launches-mem-boston-flight.html

American Airlines launches non-stop to Boston on a 76-seat Embraer 175.  

[dxfret]

There are still so few nonstop flights at MEM to many key US cities.  Most trips require a connection.  Even with a newly renovated concourse, the airport has had stagnant growth for years.  It seems MEM is losing many passengers who drive to BNA for the nonstop flights and better airfares. 

[MDC26]

31 minutes ago, dxfret said:

There are still so few nonstop flights at MEM to many key US cities.  Most trips require a connection.  Even with a newly renovated concourse, the airport has had stagnant growth for years.  It seems MEM is losing many passengers who drive to BNA for the nonstop flights and better airfares. 

Memphis is strictly a origination/destination airport since it got dehubbed following the Delta/Northwest merger.  All direct routes are based off of needs.  Nashville is fortunate to have Allegiant and Southwest bases.  That brings in a lot of connecting traffic, and allows them to have more destinations.  Southwest is almost 60% of BNA's traffic and has 55 or so routes.  There's probably not that many that drive 3+ hours to Nashville.  

[nashville born]

I know this is old news, yet gotta say I was super impressed when I flew into Memphis last month.  Felt like a whole new airport!!!  Just about every time I've flown to see my mom in MS, it's been through MEM. For years and years it was the same experience.  Then I remember seeing the construction.  And this last time I got to experience the new.  Kudos!  Job WELL DONE!!!!  Can only hope BNA's work will be as transformative because MEM hit a grand slam.

Edited August 1, 2022 by nashville born

[VSRJ]

I haven't flown out of Memphis since moving to Nashville, but I hope I get the chance to soon if only to see the new concourse. From photos it looks stunning.

[MDC26]

I haven't flown through Memphis since the new concourse opened, but the pictures look like its top notch.  Flew through San Antonio and Dallas Love this weekend, and have been through LAX, John Wayne, and Miami recently.  Memphis and Little Rock are definitely a lot nicer than San Antonio and Miami.  They are just run down.  LAX was a mess with construction, and John Wayne is ok, but nothing spectacular.  Love is very nice.  Very busy with 13+ million passengers going through a year with only 20 gates.  

[The Guardian of Memphis]

On 8/2/2022 at 11:37 AM, MDC26 said:

I haven't flown through Memphis since the new concourse opened, but the pictures look like its top notch.  Flew through San Antonio and Dallas Love this weekend, and have been through LAX, John Wayne, and Miami recently.  Memphis and Little Rock are definitely a lot nicer than San Antonio and Miami.  They are just run down.  LAX was a mess with construction, and John Wayne is ok, but nothing spectacular.  Love is very nice.  Very busy with 13+ million passengers going through a year with only 20 gates.  

I'm glad the inside is nice, but coming to the airport - Winchester, Plough Blvd., needs some landscaping improvements. I've heard that EH Crump used to keep the city clean. That needs to happen today.

[dxfret]

FedEx has today announced very poor financial results for the current quarter.  They state that they will be closing offices, deferring hiring and scaling back flights. The FedEx CEO is warning of a worldwide recession.  FedEx shares are plummeting.  This will certainly have a negative impact on the cargo side of MEM, but also on the many people who are employed by FedEx in the Memphis area.  This is not the news the already weak Memphis economy needs right now. 

[Wayward Memphian]

American  announced Sun to Fri service(no Sat) to Austin from MEM today starting in January.

 

From the MEM facebooks:

 

MEMPHIS, TENN. (September 19, 2022) – American Airlines has announced it will launch nonstop service between Memphis International Airport (MEM) and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) starting January 10, 2023. Tickets are on sale at www.aa.com.

The flight will run Sunday through Friday and American will operate a 76-seat Embraer 175 aircraft for the route. With the addition of Austin, American Airlines will offer service between Memphis and 10 destinations, including Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

“We’re excited to connect Memphis International Airport with Austin-Bergstrom International Airport starting this winter,” said Philippe Puech, American Airlines Director of Short-Haul Network Planning. “This new route has been a frequent customer request and the largest passenger carrier at MEM is proud to deliver, complementing existing nonstop service to nine other cities across our global network. Whether customers are taking care of business or are traveling to enjoy the sights and sounds of the musical capital cities, we can’t wait to welcome them on board.”

“We are excited and grateful for American Airlines’ continued growth at MEM,” said Michael Keeney, Chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Board of Commissioners. “This route creates new travel opportunities for both business and leisure travelers alike.” 

 

 

Now AA needs to add similar service to LAX and RDU and make MEM a full blown Focus City along with code share and OneWorld partner Alaska adding SEA and possibly SFO.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Wayward Memphian

[TheExtraEastKid]

Airport issues RFQ for Terminal Modernization

https://flymemphis.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/22-1459-01-Attachment-A-TMSP.pdf

[Wayward Memphian]

SI looked at the Sept 22 stats for MEM. The airport exceeded 2019 enplanements last month by 4K with 11 less average daily flights.  That means fuller and larger planes. 

I expect Oct to exceed 2019 as well with Cogic back in town.

Southwest looks to be bringing back daily flights to MCO(Orlando) next March.  Spirit has maintained it's daily service here but Frontier appears to be dropping it next year. The Southwest flights to DEN are packed, they should added another frequency in 2023 but I wished they'd add back PHX and/or and LAS. I doubt we ever see Southwest fly TPA daily again.  Southwest should bring  back  BWI(Baltimore) in 2023 IMO. 

 

I still hold hope for Breeze to enter Memphis, their A223s are right sized for twice weekly service to San Fran and Seattle. They just started flying to SFO recently

 

If the Jet Blue Spirit deal goes through, I'm mighty interested in seeing what Jet Blue adds. JFK? FLL? 

[dxfret]

MEM continues to struggle to get any real growth.  The fact that the existing carriers haven’t added many more flights and destinations is the telltale sign of the weak market. This also explains why Breeze Airways hasn’t added Memphis in spite of significant growth in similar smaller cities and the expansion of its fleet and route network.  The bottom line is that MEM doesn’t have the volume of passengers that airlines look for to support more flights.  MEM should expect the current number of flights for the foreseeable future.  

[VSRJ]

5 hours ago, dxfret said:

MEM continues to struggle to get any real growth.  The fact that the existing carriers haven’t added many more flights and destinations is the telltale sign of the weak market. This also explains why Breeze Airways hasn’t added Memphis in spite of significant growth in similar smaller cities and the expansion of its fleet and route network.  The bottom line is that MEM doesn’t have the volume of passengers that airlines look for to support more flights.  MEM should expect the current number of flights for the foreseeable future.  

MEM could add 1,000 daily flights and you would still find a negative angle. I truly do not understand why you waste your time in this forum.

[MDC26]

3 hours ago, VSRJ said:

MEM could add 1,000 daily flights and you would still find a negative angle. I truly do not understand why you waste your time in this forum.

When he was a kid growing up in Memphis, a MATA bus ran over his dog and MLGW accidentally shut off their utilities, which caused his goldfish to die. Also, he never got to watch his favorite Saturday morning cartoon, since Memphis Wrestling was broadcasted over it. Since then, he’s hated Memphis.

[Memphisborn]

9 hours ago, MDC26 said:

When he was a kid growing up in Memphis, a MATA bus ran over his dog and MLGW accidentally shut off their utilities, which caused his goldfish to die. Also, he never got to watch his favorite Saturday morning cartoon, since Memphis Wrestling was broadcasted over it. Since then, he’s hated Memphis.

Can we get him out of this forum not sure y he troll’s in this forum. 

[Wayward Memphian]

As you see in the  Mud Island thread, cruising in Memphis is growing.  Most of these cruises originate or terminate in either New Orleans and Memphis.  Many drive to these ports so someone (like Breeze) will eventually find a good shuttle business flying folks back and forth.

[VSRJ]

This article details the specifics of MEM's Master Plan. A few highlights of the landside components:

Phase 1 (5-10 years out) 

• Demolish A and C concourses 
• Build new rental car center at former Concourse A and convert former Concourse C to surface parking lot 
• Convert three other areas around the garages to surface lots to divert employee and public parking during construction and handle future overflow 

Phase 2 (10-20 years out) 

• “Re-life” or replace short-term parking garage 
• Build new parking garage on site of Concourse C 
• Reserve land adjacent to new garage for possible hotel development 

I do wonder if they will regret demolishing A and C concourses should traffic increase significantly in the next 20 years. Hopefully they'll reserve space for concourse additions/expansions should the need arise.

[MDC26]

1 hour ago, VSRJ said:

This article details the specifics of MEM's Master Plan. A few highlights of the landside components:

Phase 1 (5-10 years out) 

• Demolish A and C concourses 
• Build new rental car center at former Concourse A and convert former Concourse C to surface parking lot 
• Convert three other areas around the garages to surface lots to divert employee and public parking during construction and handle future overflow 

Phase 2 (10-20 years out) 

• “Re-life” or replace short-term parking garage 
• Build new parking garage on site of Concourse C 
• Reserve land adjacent to new garage for possible hotel development 

I do wonder if they will regret demolishing A and C concourses should traffic increase significantly in the next 20 years. Hopefully they'll reserve space for concourse additions/expansions should the need arise.

A & C terminals are very substandard and they have said that B terminal is way below capacity and can handle a lot of increase.  Dallas Love only has 20 gates and has 8.5 million passengers per year.  It's very busy there and they stack departures at each gate, but very efficient.  If there is ever a need for more gates they could always build them back.  

[MDC26]

32 minutes ago, MDC26 said:

A & C terminals are very substandard and they have said that B terminal is way below capacity and can handle a lot of increase.  Dallas Love only has 20 gates and has 8.5 million passengers per year.  It's very busy there and they stack departures at each gate, but very efficient.  If there is ever a need for more gates they could always build them back.  

Sorry, that was enplanements per year.  Total passengers per year (pre-COVID) at Love was 16.75 million.  There's 30 jetways just for the B terminal on satellite for MEM. 

[TheKernel91]

I remember the city had propsed a subway/light rail from the Airport to Downtown. That's more likely dead at this point. I was told by someone on a forum that there's a existing tunnel near Airport. Could be just a rumor