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Nashville International Airport Development thread


Lexy

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OK...I am SERIOUSLY not trying to start anything here, but when I calculate those numbers, that is still only about 19 people a day on a BNA-China flight and roughly 58 people a day going from BNA to Europe when I use the figures you mention.

The point I was trying to make wasn't that we could support a flight NOW. You seriousy need to learn how to read and stop this constant reading INTO things too deeply. The Asian population in Nashville has grown in the past ten years quite a bit. At some point in the FUTURE, we may be able to sustain a flight to that part of the world. The point I was trying to make, since you can't seem to understand it for yourself, is that we have a start. A base to build from. Jebus! This is how pissing matches between these two cities get started int he first place. Read and understand what is being said here. Stop being so defensive. LOL!! Have a good time and just discuss things like adults.

The facts are that Nashville is one of the faster growing airports (of its size) in the country. Faster than Memphis, and faster than other peer cities. Heck, we almost carry as many PAX as MEM and we don't have a "hub" per say. That should tell you a bunch about the airport and the city right there. At some point in the future, somebody will figure out that there is money to be made form direct international flights into and out of BNA. And then it will happen. Whether anyone in Memphis or Louisville (for example) wants it to, it will happen. SWA does have a ton of flights here, close to 95 operations a day from here. But their offerings are decent at best. I would like to see flights on them to places like Omaha, and Tulsa for example. Not on the "radar" cities, but business centers for their respective regions. SWA, needs to get the Wright Amendment past them, then they can open up the Nashville Focus City the way it should be. Still, 90-95 operations a day is impressive either way you look at it for a Southwest Focus City. I know that Frontier is perhaps looking to Nashville as another gateway to Mexico, so don't be surprised to see another Mexican city added to the list of destinations here in the future. Their Cancun flight from here is one of their best sellars across the company. I would also expect to see a Canadian city added from here too. But if SWA moves into the Candian/Mexican market, like most people say they are, then expect flights from there to here as well. The next five years should really be interesting around the airport to say the least.

Edited by Lexy
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The Nashville airport has a non-stop flight to all major markets in the US except for a *very* small list. For all intercontinental flights, we have quick flights to hub airports that service those areas.

Given that fact, the only service I see that Nashville lacks from a business perspective is international, intercontinental service. Given how long of a flight it is from Asia to here, a layover flying to Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Fran, Seattle, or Miami is no big deal for some of the long intercontinental flights. A 1 hr 30 min connector flight is no big deal when you are talking about a 10-15 hour flight.

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Good point heckles. When China Airlines flies their 747 into here each morning, the return trip to China is always thru either San Fransisco or Seattle. And the trip here is always thru Anchorage.

Also, there are some updated pictures on the photo site.

A taste if you will.....

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original.jpg

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Edited by Lexy
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Its a better point to argue that if you look at hubs, only a select few airports are international hubs.

Memphis is a small hub for domestic flights, but only a few small international flights. Northwest operates international service predominantly from Minneapolis and Detroit. Memphis isn't more competitive of an airport from a business perspective because Nashville has all the domestic flights for the most part. Again, Northwest causes fares to be higher at Memphis even though the airport is older, mature, and is paid for. Operating costs at Memphis are super low, but the fare is still high because its a hub.

Charlotte is US Air's largest hub post 9/11, but its predominantly domestic flights. The bulk of US Air international flights are handled from their Philadelphia hub. Charlotte's airport from a business perspective isn't really more competitive than Nashville's airport, especially considering how much lower cost our airfare is for business clients.

The only southeastern airport (not including Florida) that has international presence that matters is Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson-are they going to add another name yet to make life more complicated International Airport.

No southern city has a business "competitive advantage" over Atlanta's airport. Nashville's airport is the most competitive in my opinion over the smaller airports around Atlanta in this region because of cost and modernity. Nashville's airport terminal (and a few new runways) were built from the ground up and opened in 1987, the old terminal and its concourses were completely destroyed, and the current airport terminal is getting upgrades starting this year. Yet even considering that fact, the fares are lower than our peers and its basically got as many domestic flights as the fairly busy domestic hub at Charlotte. The only city I think we're missing over 1 million in the metro is Portland.

What really is more competitive, an airport with maybe 5 more direct flights to major markets in the world, but with 50%, 2x, or 3x the costs or an airport with relatively the same amount of non-stop flights and half the cost? I think a business would consider the lower cost first when non-stop flights aren't really that different.

Nashville is a mini-hub with a strategy to rely on multiple carriers for much of its traffic in the post-American hub days. Obviously Southwest takes up a lot of the service, but its certainly not the only carrier with a large presence. There's simply more choice here. I'm not even sure Southwest dominates with a clear majority of flights, it may be a plurality considering Nashville is a decentralized carrier airport.

Competitive is a relative word, and considering neither Memphis, Nashville, or Charlotte have the O&D for a large international presence, I don't see it happening at any non-Atlanta airport in this region anytime soon.

But I don't see the need either.

Edited by heckles
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Speaking of modernity, Nashville's and Memphis' airports both have higher quality of grade for runways for the comfort air traffic controllers have in allowing flights to come or go.

Take a look at google map for the 2nd tier airports behind Atlanta for the region:

Nashville Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Airport

Nashville has 4 high grade concrete runways (for some reason Wikipedia says one is asphalt, but the 11k runway is indeed concrete)

Memphis Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_International_Airport

Memphis has 3 high grade concrete runways and one asphalt runway

Charlotte Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Airport

Charlotte has 1 high grade concrete runway and two asphalt runways

Raleigh-Durham Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh-Durha...ational_Airport

Raleigh has 1 high grade concrete runway, 2 lesser asphalt runways

There really aren't any other major markets in the region, well except for New Orleans...

To a lesser extent I guess you can consider the Piedmont Triad airport, but its tiny compared to even Raleigh.

Piedmont-Triad Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_Tria...ational_Airport

To be fair, here's a link to Birmingham's small airport with 2 small asphalt runways:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_In...irport_%28US%29

I think Nashville has a lot of room for growth, and the Airport Authority has plans drawn up to build a runway on the right where the pool of water is. The plans aren't going to go into action anytime soon, but they are there for the possibility of expansion at a later date. The airport plans were made in the 1980's, so there won't be a need to relocate Nashville's airport to expand should we ever become a major hub (Atlanta sized). They can build a new secondary terminal with concourses on the right side of Donelson Pike as well, should they ever decide to do so. The terminal could be far larger than the existing terminal and work in a multi-terminal setup like Toronto-Pearson, Dallas-Ft Worth, or other major airports.

I'm not sure if that is in the MNAA's plans, but they do have intentions to expand with another high grade runway where the pool of water is, but you could also build a very large terminal on that side as stated before...

The demand isn't there today though. We're not a major hub and we aren't large enough for the O&D (for major international hub traffic). In time I see O&D going way up considering how fast Nashville is growing.

Edited by heckles
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Charlotte is US Air's largest hub post 9/11, but its predominantly domestic flights. The bulk of US Air international flights are handled from their Philadelphia hub. Charlotte's airport from a business perspective isn't really more competitive than Nashville's airport, especially considering how much lower cost our airfare is for business clients.

......

The only southeastern airport (not including Florida) that has international presence that matters is Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson-are they going to add another name yet to make life more complicated International Airport.

What airport in the USA is not predominately domestic flights? In any case, USAir, Air Canada, and Lufthansa airlines offer direct flights from Charlotte to Western Europe, Canada, Mexico, and about 25 other countries in the Carribean. In terms of being competitive for business, there are 30 direct flights/day from Charlotte to NYC for example and that means that a business isn't wasting an entire day to get someone to a destination as important as that. It's easy enought to hop a plane, attend a meeting there, and return in time for dinner. That means you avoid a lodging and time costs. Most of the large cities in the USA have similar levels of direct flight service from Charlotte which is very important to the businesses located here. Or if cost is an issue, you can take Jet Blue to NYC for $99.

Atlanta is a very important airport for international travel, but it terms of going to Asia it competes directly with Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and NYC. Because of the nature of those routes, it really doesn't matter which airport you connect through. For Europe and the Americas there are plenty of alternatives to Atlanta which is why a generalization that "its the only one that matters" doesn't serve any purpose on this forum.

In any case, I am not sure what any of this has to do with Nashville's airport.

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^Everything I mentioned has everything to do with the Nashville airport. The topic of competitive airports came up and no one really addressed the various points of other airports.

Really TN, GA, and NC are the only three states outside Florida in this region with major airports.

I'm not sure Birmingham's airport really can compete since its considerably smaller only offering 25 non-stop cities. Birmingham is also a large presence for Southwest, ironically, and that I didn't know before reading the Wikipedia entry. Ironically I suppose that means many Birmingham flights probably head through Nashville to connect to other cities.

Southwest is an interesting business model. I would like to fly with them a few more times to make a real impression, in the past I hadn't been so impressed, but everyone keeps telling me that they are awesome.

I'm convinced Southwest hasn't heard about buying anything but Boeing 737's.

When you see a plane take off from BNA here's what you typically see:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1104336/M/

When I worked for Dell in Nashville, since the office was literally old grounds the airport owned, I had the joy of watching airplanes take off and land all day. I have to say I like the new blue SWA planes far better than the old colors.

And have any of you noticed the increased Southwest repainted planes? I suppose its a marketing campaign that makes them money, but it actually looks neat.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1113211/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1108524/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1101963/M/

What airport in the USA is not predominately domestic flights? In any case, USAir, Air Canada, and Lufthansa airlines offer direct flights from Charlotte to Western Europe, Canada, Mexico, and about 25 other countries in the Carribean. In terms of being competitive for business, there are 30 direct flights/day from Charlotte to NYC for example and that means that a business isn't wasting an entire day to get someone to a destination as important as that.

I used the wrong phrase. Of course the majority of flights from all airports in the US are domestic. What I should have said is that there really isn't international choice and a significant array of international flights from any other airport in this region except Atlanta. Atlanta is king for international service here.

Charlotte may have non-stop service to 25 international cities, but how many of these non-stops are actually direct flights with a connector?

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Airpor...mation/Home.htm

According to that link, the Non-Stop International flights that Charlotte offers are predominantly in the Carribean and Central America, of which some are seasonal flights and not daily non-stops.

Charlotte only has two mainline flights to Europe: London-Gatwick, England and Munich, Germany; none to Asia, none to South America, or any other continent.

For the bulk of international daily non-stops you'll still need to connect in other cities. I don't see that Charlotte has a significant business advantage, its mostly tourist destinations in small cities in the Carribean.

That's impressive and Charlotte is definately second to Atlanta for its number of flight locations and has the higher traffic because of US Air, but I'm referring to business competitive talking points that most businesses would discuss. Flying to St. Croix or Aruba isn't my idea of a business competitive airport.

EDIT: I just did a Travelocity search on Charlotte-Aruba and Charlotte-St. Croix, using dates like Oct 16, 20th, 21st, etc. All flight plans showed a connection through Philadelphia or Miami or San Juan.

Something tells me the only major non-seasonal full time international service out of Charlotte is the Munich and London, Mexico City and San Juan service.

That really proves my point that for international business service, Atlanta is king here and there really is no second.

Edited by heckles
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Both the Toronto and Cancun flights are year round and the Toronto flight has increased from one to two daily flights. The Cancun flight gets cut back in the winter, but regains the four weekly flights after the first of the year. I don't know of any "seasonal" flights from Nashville. I believe all are year round non-stops.

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Well everything I've researched points to the fact that Nashville is a highly competitive airport for the region, and it will remain that way whether we have a flight to Tokyo or not.

In order for international service to become more competitive in Nashville, Southwest is going to have to start offering international, intercontinental service.

Nashville's Concourse D is a commuter concourse built to make BNA a hub connecting smaller airports in this region. The concourse has been totally decommissioned and is not in use. Why? Because Southwest doesn't operate on commuter jets. Southwest's entire fleet is mainline jets, mostly the Boeing 737.

I guess that is a positive, if you fly out of Nashville you are more likely to be on a mainline jet rather than a commuter jet.

Problem is that if we don't have more commuter flights, we'll never be a large hub. But that's not SWA's business model, they don't do commuter flights to Huntsville, Jackson (TN), Jackson (MS), Evansville, Paducah, Chattanooga, Tri-Cities, Lexington, Jonesboro, Knoxville, Biloxi-Gulfport, Columbus (GA), Savannah, or any other regional airport.

I think Nashville has some service to the cities mentioned, but we'll need the commuter traffic to improve passenger counts. Unless Southwest changes its business model I don't see it happening.

Edited by heckles
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Good points heckles again. The thing is that SWA streamlines their business model by using the all-737 fleet. Not only does it make training and maintenance easier, it also allows them to purchase fuel months in advance. I know that the airport authority would love to become a hub again, but I don't know that they want to "put all their eggs in one basket" just to get burned when the next recession hits the country. It's a risk I don't know any of them want to take unless there is some major committments by the hubbing airline. American Airlines screwed up royaly when they left here and anyone there will tell you that.

I would love to see a start up regional airline here that service these cities and allows people to get to the airport here fast and cheaply. No commitments to any airline like SWA or American. Just a stand alone airline that flies people to BNA and other major airports.

Edited by Lexy
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The point I was trying to make wasn't that we could support a flight NOW. You seriousy need to learn how to read and stop this constant reading INTO things too deeply. The Asian population in Nashville has grown in the past ten years quite a bit. At some point in the FUTURE, we may be able to sustain a flight to that part of the world. The point I was trying to make, since you can't seem to understand it for yourself, is that we have a start. A base to build from. Jebus! This is how pissing matches between these two cities get started int he first place. Read and understand what is being said here. Stop being so defensive. LOL!! Have a good time and just discuss things like adults.

The facts are that Nashville is one of the faster growing airports (of its size) in the country. Faster than Memphis, and faster than other peer cities. Heck, we almost carry as many PAX as MEM and we don't have a "hub" per say. That should tell you a bunch about the airport and the city right there. At some point in the future, somebody will figure out that there is money to be made form direct international flights into and out of BNA. And then it will happen. Whether anyone in Memphis or Louisville (for example) wants it to, it will happen. SWA does have a ton of flights here, close to 95 operations a day from here. But their offerings are decent at best. I would like to see flights on them to places like Omaha, and Tulsa for example. Not on the "radar" cities, but business centers for their respective regions. SWA, needs to get the Wright Amendment past them, then they can open up the Nashville Focus City the way it should be. Still, 90-95 operations a day is impressive either way you look at it for a Southwest Focus City. I know that Frontier is perhaps looking to Nashville as another gateway to Mexico, so don't be surprised to see another Mexican city added to the list of destinations here in the future. Their Cancun flight from here is one of their best sellars across the company. I would also expect to see a Canadian city added from here too. But if SWA moves into the Candian/Mexican market, like most people say they are, then expect flights from there to here as well. The next five years should really be interesting around the airport to say the least.

May I make a request? Will you PLEASE stop trying to make this a personal thing? I am not reading into anything. I am simply replying to information you are setting forth on this thread. Forgive me for not understanding when you say "Makes you wonder why BNA doesn't have more international flights..." or multiple remarks along those lines. I guess I just thought that when you are putting up numbers saying Nashville should have an international flight now and comments claiming that Nashville should have more international flights that you mean today...I guess I should read into it a bit, but that is apparently off limits. I also am not trying to start a "pissing match" between the two cities. However, I am NOT going to sit back and let anyone try to claim that MEM got to be the way it is out of sheer luck...that isn't true. Furthermore, I'm not going to let anyone try to say that I or anyone else in Memphis thinks BNA or the city of Nashville is a hick airport or town, respectively. We'd be stupid if we did. The only time I will be defensive on here is if it is called for. I feel this is when it is called for. I am discussing things like an adult, and the last time I checked, an adult conversation didn't involve someone basically throwing the other person's arguments as "retarded" or accusing that person of not being able to understand something as "complex" as a UP thread.

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Charlotte may have non-stop service to 25 international cities, but how many of these non-stops are actually direct flights with a connector?

According to that link, the Non-Stop International flights that Charlotte offers are predominantly in the Carribean and Central America, of which some are seasonal flights and not daily non-stops.

Charlotte only has two mainline flights to Europe: London-Gatwick, England and Munich, Germany; none to Asia, none to South America, or any other continent.

For the bulk of international daily non-stops you'll still need to connect in other cities. I don't see that Charlotte has a significant business advantage, its mostly tourist destinations in small cities in the Carribean.

That's impressive and Charlotte is definately second to Atlanta for its number of flight locations and has the higher traffic because of US Air, but I'm referring to business competitive talking points that most businesses would discuss. Flying to St. Croix or Aruba isn't my idea of a business competitive airport.

EDIT: I just did a Travelocity search on Charlotte-Aruba and Charlotte-St. Croix, using dates like Oct 16, 20th, 21st, etc. All flight plans showed a connection through Philadelphia or Miami or San Juan.

Something tells me the only major non-seasonal full time international service out of Charlotte is the Munich and London, Mexico City and San Juan service.

That really proves my point that for international business service, Atlanta is king here and there really is no second.

Why are you guys trying to discount CLT as an international hub? The Caribbean is actually quite vital to the United States, and it really isn't just a Spring Break market. Furtermore, it is a rising star as far as banking goes, so I really don't grasp how CLT is less of a business-savvy airport for having more Caribbean destinations that European destinations. Nevertheless, I'll probably suffer for saying this, but a flight to Munich and London are more than certain cities in Tennessee have at their airports.

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Its not about discounting Charlotte, its about showing that Atlanta is the only real international competitor in this region.

Note that I haven't even mentioned Memphis due to the high emotions already displayed on the forum thus far. LOL

Really Memphis is the same ordeal, Memphis has several several Carribean/Central American flights along with its service to Vancouver, Toronto, and Amsterdam. But they are mostly seasonal (just like Charlotte).

Again, this doesn't make Memphis LESS competitive, I'm just making the point that none of the international service there really makes Memphis a more competitive business center because its not a true international hub such as Miami or Atlanta, Chicago or New York. Again, this is in regards to international service ONLY.

Bottom line? We're smaller cities and we don't have the need or demand for these international services. That will change in time as each place grows.

I think its great that we've got international growth in all these markets. Nashville has other seasonal Carribean and Central American flights that haven't been mentioned here, at least so far back as I've read. I might have the time to go find some of these seasonal flights.

The irony of this discussion is that even in Atlanta there isn't enough O&D to fill their planes on a daily basis for much of their international service. They rely on people flying in from Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Memphis, and other "smaller" airports in addition to their higher O&D.

Basically it takes a lot of effort to have a truly international airport, and it takes a mix between being a multi-million metro area with O&D plus being a hub.

Nashville is still a hub, its just that its a Southwest hub and not a hub with lots of commuter flights to small markets. Southwest has its business model, and the argument I'm trying to make is that for Nashville to really succeed at becoming an airport with more international flights, its going to take Southwest beginning international service.

SWA doesn't need to start buying commuter planes quite honestly, they just need to create international flights and redirect a few more flights to Nashville to fill the demand as they see fit.

Seeing that Southwest's largest presence in the southeast is Nashville, and considering the growth in this region, I think that if SWA ever decides to do international service that BNA will naturally benefit and fit into their business model.

Edited by heckles
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Charlotte only has two mainline flights to Europe: London-Gatwick, England and Munich, Germany; none to Asia, none to South America, or any other continent.

There is also a daily direct flight to Frankfurt and another one to Paris. This does give Charlotte direct access to the 4 largest cities in Europe which is a nice alternative over going through Atlanta.

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Its not about discounting Charlotte, its about showing that Atlanta is the only real international competitor in this region.

Note that I haven't even mentioned Memphis due to the high emotions already displayed on the forum thus far. LOL

Really Memphis is the same ordeal, Memphis has several several Carribean/Central American flights along with its service to Vancouver, Toronto, and Amsterdam. But they are mostly seasonal (just like Charlotte).

Again, this doesn't make Memphis LESS competitive, I'm just making the point that none of the international service there really makes Memphis a more competitive business center because its not a true international hub such as Miami or Atlanta, Chicago or New York. Again, this is in regards to international service ONLY.

Bottom line? We're smaller cities and we don't have the need or demand for these international services. That will change in time as each place grows.

I think its great that we've got international growth in all these markets. Nashville has other seasonal Carribean and Central American flights that haven't been mentioned here, at least so far back as I've read. I might have the time to go find some of these seasonal flights.

The irony of this discussion is that even in Atlanta there isn't enough O&D to fill their planes on a daily basis for much of their international service. They rely on people flying in from Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Memphis, and other "smaller" airports in addition to their higher O&D.

Basically it takes a lot of effort to have a truly international airport, and it takes a mix between being a multi-million metro area with O&D plus being a hub.

Nashville is still a hub, its just that its a Southwest hub and not a hub with lots of commuter flights to small markets. Southwest has its business model, and the argument I'm trying to make is that for Nashville to really succeed at becoming an airport with more international flights, its going to take Southwest beginning international service.

SWA doesn't need to start buying commuter planes quite honestly, they just need to create international flights and redirect a few more flights to Nashville to fill the demand as they see fit.

Seeing that Southwest's largest presence in the southeast is Nashville, and considering the growth in this region, I think that if SWA ever decides to do international service that BNA will naturally benefit and fit into their business model.

Actually, the only seasonal international flights in Memphis are the ones to Vancouver and to Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rico flight is actually going to become a full-time flight in 2007.

Also...not trying to discount Nashville here, but isn't the SWA operation there more along the lines of a focus city? I mean, Nashville is the 11th largest market for the airline and while it is a sizeable operation, I don't think it's a hub because the major quality of a hub airport is to have the regional flights, the large domestic operation, and international flights.

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There is also a daily direct flight to Frankfurt and another one to Paris. This does give Charlotte direct access to the 4 largest cities in Europe which is a nice alternative over going through Atlanta.

Is the Paris one currently operating? I tried to find it on the website, but it still had a PHL connection, but I know that there is/was a direct CLT-CDG flight...

-------

Charlotte's Caribbean flights suit it well because Charlotte is a banking hub. Many of the Caribbean cities served by the CLT hub are growing banking destinations, thus the CLT international flights are serving what is suitable for Charlotte. Furthermore, as far as banking business and many other business sectors, CLT is just as important as Atlanta airport wise.

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Maybe I'm not able to articulate what I am really meaning by some of the things that I've said.

In any event, I don't see how flights to the Caribbean (did I spell it right that time, LOL) make an airport more competitive in a business perspective. These are great for tourism and tourist dollars, very very good in that respect.

All I was trying to say is that we have a very competitive airport in Nashville because a) we have mainline jet flights to most all major markets in the US, minus a tiny few. b) We have highly competitive rates for our flights. And c) for international service our peer cities don't have service that is that outstanding to really make much of a difference. Charlotte definately has better international service, Memphis also has better international service, but the rate of difference for where it takes you really isn't *that* outstanding.

I think the simple fact that most jets that fly to these locations are mainline jets is more of a competitive business factor than the international service. Businessmen take notice between airports where half the flights are stuck in tiny commuter aircraft and other airports, like Nashville, where the clear majority of flights are handled through mainline jets to most of its destinations.

I flew to Chicago on American earlier this year, one of some 10+ flights a day they offer, and chose to ride on a 737 as opposed to a commuter jet. Southwest has 10+ flights to midway on 737's. United usually uses CRJ's, but they too offer 10+ flights to Chicago O'Hare.

That is as important as all this international talk.

Really that is *ALL* I meant by all the things I've said. We have a very competitive airport, and it has room for growth because it was built to have the capacity to become a super hub, not just a hub, should that ever happen. The airport has the infrastructure, the land, and the ability to build another secondary terminal and expand well beyond what we have.

When the demand is there, it can happen.

Edited by heckles
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I agree; I like assigned seats. If I want to sit next to someone else, I can always switch seats on Delta

Everyone on hear keeps mentioning that as Nashville grows, so will our airline service, but what I don't think everyone understands is that as Nashville grows, so will Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, NYC, LA, etc... So service will continue to grow at those airports as long as they continue to add capacity. Makes sense economically. I agree that our best bet is to have a smaller airline move to BNA and become sucessful here.

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SWA uses Focus Cities as hubs for them. Their style of business is totally different than a Legacy Carrier's way of doing it. But with over 90 operations a day, that qulifies as a hub regardless of who you really talk to. Regional service or not. Nashville is the largest Focus City in the south for them, minus Orlando. The Wright Amendment prevents Nashville from having some flights to a degree (at least that is what I have been told, LOL!), so after that crap is done away with....it should improve exponentially from here.

Edited by Lexy
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SWA uses Focus Cities as hubs for them. Their style of business is totally different than a Legacy Carrier's way of doing it. But with over 90 operations a day, that qulifies as a hub regardless of who you really talk to. Regional service or not. Nashville is the largest Focus City in the south for them, minus Orlando. The Wright Amendment prevents Nashville from having some flights to a degree (at least that is what I have been told, LOL!), so after that crap is done away with....it should improve exponentially from here.

Correct me if I'm wrong here...or if I'm reading into things...but it seems as though when Southwest is brought up, people claim that what makes it so unique is the fact that it doesn't have hubs. You and many others have said that it is point to point in operations. Now, I do realize that Southwest would certainly have large centers of operations, but still...I don't think focus cities can be called hubs because they are different things. Furthermore, if you talk to several airline researchers, they will tell you that 90 ops a day is a focus city or simply a point or concentrated ops...not a hub. As I stated, a hub has three vital factors that make it a hub: regional service, extensive domestic service, and international service. The Wright Amendment simply prevents Nashville from having flights to Dallas Love Field, as the Amendment is focused on Dallas Love and anti-compete issues with Texas airports. At the same time, how many airlines have 11 hubs? If you have to call any Southwest airports "hubs" they would have to be Las Vegas (224 flights per day), Chicago-Midway (209 flights per day), Phoenix (206 flights per day), or Baltimore (168 flights per day)...and even then, they would be what Southwest constitutes as a hub...and that is simply heavy ops. If we're going to classify Southern focus cities, Houston Hobby (141 flights per day), Dallas Love (121 flights per day), and Orlando (94 flights per day) would technically be the three largest Southern focus cities.

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Well, while operations may not exactly mimic those of BIGGER airports in general, they are significant considering the size of both the airport here and the city. Keep in mind that SWA is still growing this market and Nashville is a major connection point for many of the south's markets that are served by them. Including Birimingham, Raleigh, etc. They still have rental options on three gates at BNA, that alone would put them well above 100 ops. per day if they so choose to utilize those gates on C. So to compare Nashville with more mature, established, and overall larger airports is unfair in a sense and just overall wrong in this case. All of those airports you listed are in cities, or metro areas, that dwarf Nashville on just about every scale. Herbert Kelleher has stated time and time again that Nashville is one of the most important cities in the Southwest plan for growth. I would think he wasn't just blowing smoke up our tails, LOL!

Edited by Lexy
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^Exactly. I, nor does the airport here, claim to be the end all-be all for SWA. But we do have a very large presence for a airport and city our size. No doubt about it, and the amount of presence extends into the community as well. With a number of events/teams sponsored locally by Southwest, namely the Nashville Predators. To have them here is a huge benefit that I believe the city feels very happy and secure with. I know I certainly do because I know that if I need to get somewhere, i'm not going to have to hassle with jumping on and off an airplane at a busy airport in the middle of where I DON'T need to be. LOL!! Point to point baby, that is the way to go. People ralize this, and that is why they are so succesfull. And of course, the fact that they are so darn cheap. LOL!

Oh btw, we do have non-stop flights to Columbus, OH on SWA. Port of Columbus Airport is their destination from BNA.

Edited by Lexy
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