Nashville International Airport Development thread

[NashRugger]

Also, just a standard question: what other markets do you think BNA should go after? We know the obvious, London, Japan, & San Francisco, but what others could or should they go after? Aeromexico's seasonal didn't last long at all but I feel like Mexico is a strong market where something more than seasonal should be sought after. I believe BNA should also look at other European destinations, namely Germany via Lufthansa, and perhaps even some Latin American markets, such as Rio, Sao Paulo, or Buenos Aires. Also, with the continuing growth of the Middle Eastern community, one would believe we could go after a carrier there, such as Emirates or Etihad. 

 

My personal favorite airline, Air New Zealand, is slowly growing eastward with new service announced direct to Houston-Intercontinental. I'd love to see BNA make Atlanta mad and catch Qantas. 

[jmtunafish]

Also, just a standard question: what other markets do you think BNA should go after? We know the obvious, London, Japan, & San Francisco, but what others could or should they go after? Aeromexico's seasonal didn't last long at all but I feel like Mexico is a strong market where something more than seasonal should be sought after. I believe BNA should also look at other European destinations, namely Germany via Lufthansa, and perhaps even some Latin American markets, such as Rio, Sao Paulo, or Buenos Aires. Also, with the continuing growth of the Middle Eastern community, one would believe we could go after a carrier there, such as Emirates or Etihad. 

 

My personal favorite airline, Air New Zealand, is slowly growing eastward with new service announced direct to Houston-Intercontinental. I'd love to see BNA make Atlanta mad and catch Qantas. 

 

Oh how I wish BNA would have more international service.  I look longingly at Montreal, whose airport isn't much busier than ours (15 million passengers/year vs. 11 million'ish) yet has nonstop flights to places like Casablanca, Algiers, Istanbul, Beijing, Prague, Budapest, Brussels, Athens, Lisbon, Vienna, Munich, Qatar, Amman, Barcelona, plus eight cities in France, seven cities in Cuba, four in Japan, three in Switzerland, and a couple dozen throughout the rest of Latin America.  In all, 5 continents.  They have four different airlines that fly nonstop to Paris for crying out loud, including Air France which flies it with a mammoth A380.  So, really, any additional international flights from BNA would be wonderful.  I'll be happy if it's just London, happier if it's London and Tokyo, and absolutely giddy if it's London, Tokyo, and Paris.

 

Speaking of Montreal, I would love to see a nonstop flight there from Nashville.

 

As far as domestic flights, I'd love to have a nonstop to Honolulu.  Closer to home, I'd like to see nonstop to places like Savannah, Charleston, Little Rock, Albuquerque, Tucson, Norfolk, Richmond, Greensboro.

Edited May 1, 2015 by jmtunafish

[titanhog]

Oh how I wish BNA would have more international service.  I look longingly at Montreal, whose airport isn't much busier than ours (15 million passengers/year vs. 11 million'ish) yet has nonstop flights to places like Casablanca, Algiers, Istanbul, Beijing, Prague, Budapest, Brussels, Athens, Lisbon, Vienna, Munich, Qatar, Amman, Barcelona, plus eight cities in France, seven cities in Cuba, four in Japan, three in Switzerland, and a couple dozen throughout the rest of Latin America.  In all, 5 continents.  They have four different airlines that fly nonstop to Paris for crying out loud, including Air France which flies it with a mammoth A380.  So, really, any additional international flights from BNA would be wonderful.  I'll be happy if it's just London, happier if it's London and Tokyo, and absolutely giddy if it's London, Tokyo, and Paris.

 

Speaking of Montreal, I would love to see a nonstop flight there from Nashville.

 

As far as domestic flights, I'd love to have a nonstop to Honolulu.  Closer to home, I'd like to see nonstop to places like Savannah, Charleston, Little Rock, Albuquerque, Tucson, Norfolk, Richmond, Greensboro.

Would the reason Montreal has all of those because they are really the first major city near the east coast of Canada?

 

And yes...we should at least have more non-stops to some of the cities you mentioned. 

[BnaBreaker]

Would the reason Montreal has all of those because they are really the first major city near the east coast of Canada?

 

And yes...we should at least have more non-stops to some of the cities you mentioned. 

 

Yeah, I mean I don't think passenger numbers are as important as how major an airport is relative to the other airports in the same country.  I mean there are a lot of examples one could use, but here's a random one.  Casablanca's airport 'only' serves about 7.5 million passengers annually, but as the largest airport in the most important city in Morocco, it has somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty international destinations. 

[SoundScan]

Southwest has a daily nonstop to and from Charleston. I flew there back in the fall.

[volsfanwill]

with the Titans draft pick the commentators joked about a new Honolulu to Nashville non stop to bring Mariota lovers here and take them home.........maybe?.........

[rookzie]

with the Titans draft pick the commentators joked about a new Honolulu to Nashville non stop to bring Mariota lovers here and take them home.........maybe?.........

 

Well, the planes would be forced to land at DFW, because everyone on board would be arrested for trying to kill each other for cramped leg space, when they reclined the seats..

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[dxfret]

The only two major domestic cities where BNA does not currently have nonstop flights are San Francisco (SFO) and Portland, Oregon (PDX). SFO service is more likely and important since it offers numerous connections to the Asia-Pacific region. It would be nice to have a nonstop flight to Indianapolis (IND), but the drive time and distance really don't warrant it. Practically every other major city is already well covered with nonstop flights from BNA.

The only international city where Nashville might expect to see a nonstop flight is London (LHR) or (LGW). There have been strong rumors that British Airways might launch such a flight. Apparently BNA is competing with Columbus, OH and New Orleans for BA service. With Nashville's booming economy and strong tourism draw, such a flight might work. Tokyo is more doubtful despite the presence of Nissan and Bridgestone headquarters in Nashville. Asia is already well covered via connections in Los Angeles, Dallas/Ft.Worth, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle or Chicago.

Currently BNA is enjoying record passenger traffic. Passenger flows have exceeded the previous record highs attained during the days of the American Airlines hub here. In addition to strong population, tourism and economic growth BNA benefits from a large cachement area that covers all of Middle TN as well as parts of KY and AL. Many passengers continue to drive to BNA from Memphis as MEM has seen a drastic reduction in flights since it was de-hubbed by Delta Air Lines in 2013. MEM currently offers less than 90 flights per day on all of the airlines serving the city and the average airfares are higher compared to Nashville. In contrast, BNA offers more than 350 daily flights.

Edited May 1, 2015 by dxfret

[MetroTN]

Im honestly shocked that Memphis only has 90 flights a day. I thought Knoxville's airport had more than that.

[smeagolsfree]

Im honestly shocked that Memphis only has 90 flights a day. I thought Knoxville's airport had more than that.

I'm not.

Also if it were not for Fed Ex, they could just about shut the airport down.

[NashRugger]

I would like to see some changes with the carriers, the big guys, not Southwest start to increase their foothold here. American still owns many gates and is likely going to increase flights and destinations from here. I would love to see American upgrade Miami from a seasonal and they very well could upgrade JFK from American Eagle to mainstream planes.

 

It does appear though that United is going to increase plane sizes from BNA and make us a mini-hub since the closest hubs for them are O'Hare and Washington-Dulles. We could very well see a battle between United & American at our airport in the coming years.

[dxfret]

Indeed, the Memphis airport has badly suffered since the merger of Northwest and Delta Air Lines. Delta has cut service there to the point where the only fly to Delta hubs. Southwest only last year came into Memphis and offers only a handful of daily flights from MEM. The Memphis Airport Authoriy has been under tremendous scrutiny resulting in the retirement of its long time CEO who apparently only cared about keeping FedEx happy and neglected the passenger side of the airport. MEM built a huge and expensive parking garage that is not well utilized, it continues to have some of the most expensive air fares in the US and the city/region are economically challenged and not rapidly growing, so there is a smaller demand for flights. Without the presence of FedEx operations, MEM would be in even more dire straits. The passenger terminal is like a ghost town, they have closed concourses and now have fewer than 90 flights per day on all of the airlines serving MEM. Delta has dropped from around 200 flights per day at MEM to less than 30. In contrast, Southwest alone has 90+ flights per day at BNA and we have around 350 passenger flights to day to 53 cities.

Regarding United, it is highly doubtful United will ever have any type of mini hub or focus operation at BNA. United faces operational and financial challenges and recently closed is hub in Cleveland Ohio and has reduced operations at Washington Dulles, focusing more on Newark. The best BNA can hope for from United is larger mainline aircraft to replace regional jets on their current schedule of flights to Houston, Chicago, Newark, Denver and Washington Dulles. And, hopefully United will start a nonstop flight to their major international hub in San Francisco

[MLBrumby]

When I see the videos of violence and desperation coming from Baltimore, I cannot help thinking about Memphis.  Poorly run cities with deep corruption at the highest levels. One thing Memphis has going for it is that it's NOT in Maryland. They got screwed by Delta, but that always happens after a merger... ask St. Louis.  

[Will]

I would like to see some changes with the carriers, the big guys, not Southwest start to increase their foothold here. American still owns many gates and is likely going to increase flights and destinations from here. I would love to see American upgrade Miami from a seasonal and they very well could upgrade JFK from American Eagle to mainstream planes.

 

It does appear though that United is going to increase plane sizes from BNA and make us a mini-hub since the closest hubs for them are O'Hare and Washington-Dulles. We could very well see a battle between United & American at our airport in the coming years.

Agreed on the larger aircraft. When it's windy or the pilot is feeling frisky those little MD-80s can feel kind of like riding on a kite.

[Will]

All things considered I think we have a pretty good airport in BNA. I don't fly much to Asia or South America but getting to most major airports in Europe is just a 1-stop affair. The main thing I think would improve the experience for residents and visitors alike is a dedicated rail shuttle (or separate bus lane) from BNA to downtown. It's absolute Hades trying to/from there at rush hour on 440. Even the Thompson Lane way can get quite bad. 

[jmtunafish]

All things considered I think we have a pretty good airport in BNA. I don't fly much to Asia or South America but getting to most major airports in Europe is just a 1-stop affair. The main thing I think would improve the experience for residents and visitors alike is a dedicated rail shuttle (or separate bus lane) from BNA to downtown. It's absolute Hades trying to/from there at rush hour on 440. Even the Thompson Lane way can get quite bad. 

 

Agreed on all counts.  BNA is a nice airport.  It's not huge, but it sure is easy to navigate and has pretty good connections to most major US cities and one-stop connections to pretty much the rest of the western world.  I moved to France in 1986 and flew out of the old BNA.  I returned in 1988 and was completely dazzled by the new terminal.  Nearly 30 years later it's still a beautiful terminal.  And while it would be frightfully expensive, I would love to see a rail line going from BNA to downtown. 

 

One thing I loved about the old terminal was the observation patio.  As a kid I loved going there, smelling the jet fuel, feeling the jetblast, watching the planes coming and going to/from the gates and taking off and landing.

Edited May 2, 2015 by jmtunafish

[MidTenn1]

All things considered I think we have a pretty good airport in BNA. I don't fly much to Asia or South America but getting to most major airports in Europe is just a 1-stop affair. The main thing I think would improve the experience for residents and visitors alike is a dedicated rail shuttle (or separate bus lane) from BNA to downtown. It's absolute Hades trying to/from there at rush hour on 440. Even the Thompson Lane way can get quite bad. 

 

You could run a RR line north up to the commuter rail line on Donelson Pike and tie into that somehow.  

[rookzie]

All things considered I think we have a pretty good airport in BNA. I don't fly much to Asia or South America but getting to most major airports in Europe is just a 1-stop affair. The main thing I think would improve the experience for residents and visitors alike is a dedicated rail shuttle (or separate bus lane) from BNA to downtown. It's absolute Hades trying to/from there at rush hour on 440. Even the Thompson Lane way can get quite bad. 

 

Agreed on all counts.  BNA is a nice airport.  It's not huge, but it sure is easy to navigate and has pretty good connections to most major US cities and one-stop connections to pretty much the rest of the western world. ...And while it would be frightfully expensive, I would love to see a rail line going from BNA to downtown. 

 

One thing I loved about the old terminal was the observation patio.  As a kid I loved going there, smelling the jet fuel, feeling the jetblast, watching the planes coming and going to/from the gates and taking off and landing.

 

You could run a RR line north up to the commuter rail line on Donelson Pike and tie into that somehow.  

 

"Can't Touch This..."  (the topic, that is)

 

I'll just sit back in the shade and watch...

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[Guest]

Sad to hear of the Memphis Airport. When we lived there a couple years ago that airport was one of the best things the city had going for it (as far as volume of traffic).

[Nathan_in_DC]

I occasionally flew through Memphis as a connector to BNA back when I was living in Philadelphia. Talk about a dumpy airport. It always seemed so dead, too, as it seemed most passengers were just there for layovers.

I've been following the rise of BNA as one of the busiest airports in the region, and one of the fastest growing in the country. It's incredible to see how much it has flourished. It's a pleasant airport to be in, too. Not overwhelming, like Atlanta or Dulles, but busy enough to be lively. Now, if only the 118th would get a flying mission back (don't get me started on the stupidity and pork that is BRAC).

[smeagolsfree]

Talking about dumpy and boring airports; go to Sacramento. For a airport in the Capital city of the largest populated state, it is pretty embarrassing.

[volsfanwill]

You could run a RR line north up to the commuter rail line on Donelson Pike and tie into that somehow.

I agree. That map I showed at the April meet has a line that connects Opryland to bna to the Murfreesboro line. It actually goes into downtown and then down Charlotte.

[rookzie]

I agree. That map I showed at the April meet has a line that connects Opryland to bna to the Murfreesboro line. It actually goes into downtown and then down Charlotte.

 

Don't believe I recall that.  A line branches off the NERR (host of our toy MCS) about a mile east of Stones River, and which crosses Central Pike in Hermitage, and swings NE-sterly across that bumpy-ass Jarez Dr. and oblique crosses Old Hickory Blvd and Lebanon Rd in one swoop, and intersection which has "victimized" nearly every last one of us in this forum, one time or another.  This is the NERR (former TCRR) Old Hickory Branch to Rayon City (the old Dupont Plant), an area where some freight business remains to this day.  That's where those tracks spur off in various directions, some tracks of which are abandoned and buried.  No line ever served Pennington Bend that I am aware of.  Perhaps the map you showed had a new alignment from Opryland to the existing NERR, a concept which indeed would be feasible. (I missed the April meet, since I was lazy)

 

The only trackage that comes close to BNA from the M'boro line (CSX former L&N, former NC&Ct.L), branches off at a rather obscure point along Mill Creek and Currey Rd, in the Glengarry - Seven Oaks neighborhoods, just SE of Briley Pkwy.  This line passes under M'Boro Rd., just east of Briley Plwy, and most people never even would notice this overpass (a short tunnel).  This branch serves the "W@ng factry" (Triumph Ind., formerly Vaught formerly Avco Aerostructures) and special shaped enclosed freight cars are shoved into and out of this plant regularly.

 

There is no connection between the Old Hickory branch and the Avco branch ─ totally independent of each other (and different owners).  I discussed a possibility of the Avco branch with UTgrad09 sometime about a year or more ago, as an airport-line possibility, but we all know the rest of the story with CSX, a matter I had brought up nearly 2 years ago, long before Sen. Ketron had proposed recently hooking up with CSX.  This is the official Chattanooga Sub-Div of the CSX Nashville Division, which we all know is congested, with container freight and automotive industry freight, Nissan (Smyrna) being a primary customer.  This line lost all passenger service of any kind on May 01, 1971.  In theory, if not Ideally, the layout of this CSX line and its branches would better serve the mid-state regional needs overall, since it connects to the Boro via Laverne and Smyrna.  It also has theoretically more potential to serve, not only BNA, with some additional Wyes ('Y' interchanges) and extensions (and perhaps a tunnel or a canyon within BNA's airport authority), but also would be a naturally expandable route to serve SE Davidson Co, as well, if multiple tracks and RoW width were in place ─ really that entire busy SE corridor.  This also would be the line to directly enter the Union Station approach area, for a more centralized access within the CBD, if multiple commuter-rail lines ever are to be realized.  Finally, this line also would be the most likely alignment for Atlanta-Nashville proposed intercity passenger rail, unless an alternate proposal focused on the I-24 RoW median can be engineered to utilize an entirely new railway.

 

Since as yet no billion(s)-dollar proposals are on any table with CSX, then any preferred alignment with the CSX is a cosmic dream at best.  A line that PhofKS suggested (from the NERR - MCS) would be the second choice (for any existing RR alignment).  It would be far less expensive in the short run (actually in any run), but its projected efficacy would be arguably significantly less than that for a CSX alignment, since the latter perhaps would have more potential to be more scalable and made accessible via more radial connections from other commuter-rail branches in the long run.  Notwithstanding the funding limitations for any alignment, the NERR line to BNA would be the most likely attainable, unless the state goes hog-wild and does what FL has just done with its SunRail and AllAboard Florida initiatives, something preciously unprecedented as far as magnitude of funding and agreements with CSX is concerned.

 

If a long-range Regional plan can be made to capitalize on Senator Bill Ketrons's I-24 monorail concept, then the monorail should be foregone in favor of a conventional steel-rail FRA interchange-standard RR, to maximize the shared use for both intercity- and for commuter rail.  With an I-24 alignment, a branch to BNA still could be realized (perhaps leveraged to better alignment).

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[bellinibean]

Having traveled alot while being in the military, I'm alway underwhelmed by Nashville's airport, especially inside. I would propose an overhaul of the interior atleast. I say this because as I travel almost all the airports I visit are generally nicer. I submit airports like Minneapolis and Detroit (yes Detroit) as examples of interior designs that are very nice. Maybe I'm wrong though. I just see the mundane interior and limited offerings for travelers becoming an issue down the road when larger carriers and traveler population increase.

[Guest]

Having traveled alot while being in the military, I'm alway underwhelmed by Nashville's airport, especially inside. I would propose an overhaul of the interior atleast. I say this because as I travel almost all the airports I visit are generally nicer. I submit airports like Minneapolis and Detroit (yes Detroit) as examples of interior designs that are very nice. Maybe I'm wrong though. I just see the mundane interior and limited offerings for travelers becoming an issue down the road when larger carriers and traveler population increase.

Truth. We are reaching the point in this city on almost all fronts where "good enough" no longer cuts it. We are playing in the bigger pond now.