Nashville International Airport Development thread

[MidTenn1]

^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 direct flights to Columbus, OH on SWA. Port of Columbus Airport is their destination from BNA.

When we had an American Airlines hub, it was neat from a 'gee whiz, look at us" standpoint. But from a personal standpoint, I like Southwest better. Instead of driving to Panama City with the family for the annual vacation, we have instead gone to Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston, New York and Chicago at bargain rates.

I will probably jet on up to Islip and ride the rail into Manhattan for my Ny, NY fix next spring. It's just too easy! And affordable!

[Lexy]

Bad thing is that flight has been pulled from Nashville with the arrival of JetBlue here. LOL!!! Southwest has pulled it in favor of the Philly flight. Plus, that airport has come under some recent scrutiny about safety and I think SWA is a little leary of having a large bank of flights into there. At least until things pass.

Edited October 15, 2006 by Lexy

[built_ford_tough]

Bad thing is that flight has been pulled from Nashville with the arrival of JetBlue here. LOL!!! Southwest has pulled it in favor of the Philly flight. Plus, that airport has come under some recent scrutiny about safety and I think SWA is a little leary of having a large bank of flights into there. At least until things pass.

From experience in Islip on a SWA flight they are very lax about security there... but that's to be expected with a small airport

[Lexy]

It is such a small airport, so perhaps that plays a part in that. I don't know, but I do know that SWA doesn't have a very large presence there.

[titanhog]

Here's my last Islip experience. Happened the Spring after 9/11. Flew through Baltimore, but hit a big thuderstorm. Flew around in circles and arrived in Baltimore about 1 1/2 hours late. Believe it or not, I still made the same flight that was scheduled out of Baltimore, only about 2 hours later than scheduled. Arrived in Islip around midnight. No train available at that time, so I had to pay a towncar almost $200 to drive me into Manhattan. Oh...I forgot...my luggage didn't make it to Islip and I had a 9:30 am meeting scheduled in Midtown. I asked the man in the towncar that barely spoke a lick of English if he'd take me by a drug store to get toothpaste and other essentials. SWA promised they'd have my luggage at my hotel by 8am.

Well...nothing at 8am...so I walked to one of those big drugstores that carries everything and bought shampoo, make-up (remember, I'm a woman), etc. Went back to the hotel and washed my undies out in the sink, dryed them with a blow dryer, washed my hair, etc and climbed back in the clothes I flew in (which were casual) and headed out the door to catch a cab. As the concierge was hailing me a cab, a van pulls up with my luggage!! Ticked!!!!

I never flew into Islip again. I never flew an evening flight day before a meeting either!

[Jonny11788]

I seem to recall hearing about some issues with recent construction at Islip... something along the lines of a terminal/ramp expansion being very cheaply built, and posing some serious saftey hazards.

Speaking of SWA though, I just returned from Albany today with them; it was another good experience with them without any trouble, and hassle-free too, even though they weren't non-stop flights. I'd like to see them add more shorter flights; e.g., Southwest serves Indianapolis, St. Louis, Jackson MS, Louisville, and Little Rock, but not from here. I'd believe that flights to those places from here could work (though Louisville might be too close).

I also think AirTran could do well here...

[Lexy]

Airtran would just take you to Atlanta, and that already happens with Delta. They stray away from markets that are dominated by SWA cause they can't survive in them. And let's face it, they are just ValueJet with a new name and a few new aircraft. Having them wouldn't benefit this airport from a destinations stand point. They are wanting less of the hubbing type, and more of the point to point flights. Which point to point isn't offered with Airtran. They herd you like cattle thru Atlanta's mess. LOL!! Believe me, I have asked why they weren't here. And that was what was told to me.

But I will certainly agree the some more short hop flights from here would be great. I have often wondered why we dont' have a St. Louis flight on them, but yet connect people from Birmingham, Alabama thru here? I guess all the St. Louis flights connect thru Kansas City.

Edited October 15, 2006 by Lexy

[jcoop]

I love SWA and love the fact that I am in college somewhere that I am able to use their service on a regular basis (Nashville-Raleigh)

I know they did a test period (might still be) with assigned seating and honestly, I wouldn't mind them changing over to that. I would pick out my seat when I buy my ticket and then if it's not a full flight (which it always has been) I could always move.

My only gripe with not having the assigned seating is how people line up to be in the different boarding groups way before they need to. Especially at BNA because there are no seats where the lines form. At RDU they have arranged the seats to form the lines so you can stay in your seat and also save your spot in a line...wish they would just move the chairs around at BNA haha.

As for other airline options that I have used, I flew NWA from BNA to Detroit and back and was not pleased at all...quite a downgrade from my usual enjoyable experience on SWA.

I also flew Continental this summer from BNA to Houston and then Houston to Cancun. Of course from BNA it was just the ExpressJet connection flight so I don't have much of a reaction to that as it is related to BNA.

And finally, since I drove to school this year, my first flight back will be for Thanksgiving...any updates on renovations inside that I should look for when I get back?

[BrandonTO416]

northernbizkitt, where are you getting your figures from regarding the SWA information? Generally Texas isn't considered the southeast market, Nashville is half way between Toronto and Dallas for example.

Here is my understanding about SWA's business model: they operate entirely using mainline jets and offer few if not any commuter jet services to small markets. Based on this model, they don't operate on a hub-and-spoke system, they operate only within larger markets.

Based on this, they can only offer flights to airports with heavy enough traffic for their 737 planes. This is why they have "focus cities" rather than "hubs."

In the southeastern market, Nashville is the second largest hub - or "focus city" as they put it - outside Florida.

[Lexy]

I love SWA and love the fact that I am in college somewhere that I am able to use their service on a regular basis (Nashville-Raleigh)

I know they did a test period (might still be) with assigned seating and honestly, I wouldn't mind them changing over to that. I would pick out my seat when I buy my ticket and then if it's not a full flight (which it always has been) I could always move.

My only gripe with not having the assigned seating is how people line up to be in the different boarding groups way before they need to. Especially at BNA because there are no seats where the lines form. At RDU they have arranged the seats to form the lines so you can stay in your seat and also save your spot in a line...wish they would just move the chairs around at BNA haha.

As for other airline options that I have used, I flew NWA from BNA to Detroit and back and was not pleased at all...quite a downgrade from my usual enjoyable experience on SWA.

I also flew Continental this summer from BNA to Houston and then Houston to Cancun. Of course from BNA it was just the ExpressJet connection flight so I don't have much of a reaction to that as it is related to BNA.

And finally, since I drove to school this year, my first flight back will be for Thanksgiving...any updates on renovations inside that I should look for when I get back?

Concourse C should have renovations in full swing. They have already started, but by then you should be choking on the dust. LOL!! The rest of the terminal is going to be a mess in the coming months as well.

Also Continental is suppose to start mainline service back sometime next year. Relieving ExpressJet of some of the routes from here. Well see if that happens.

And heckles is right about SWA and BNA. BNA is one of their newest focus cities. So I wouldn't expect as many flights as the other, larger, airports see Like Baltimore and Chicago. Remember, when this was a AA hub, SWA only had a couple flights out of here and that was it. With their business model, you don't build 120-200 flights over night. Especially at an airport that is as diversified as this one is here.

I have been under the weather this weekend, but did manage to get a few pictures out at the airport yesterday. They are on the site (for those that don't have it) http://www.pbase.com/lexyky. I have completely galleried the site, so click on the airline and there's the pictures I have of them.

Edited October 16, 2006 by Lexy

[northernbizzkit1]

northernbizkitt, where are you getting your figures from regarding the SWA information? Generally Texas isn't considered the southeast market, Nashville is half way between Toronto and Dallas for example.

All of the info came from the Southwest website

[rocky top buzz]

Back to the renovations at BNA...

Have any drawings been published showing what the changes are expected to look like? I read all this stuff about the renovations, but really, what is there to renovate on the actual concourses? Are they going to re-arrange gates? I was reading some info on flynashville.com, but it didn't seem to have the technical details I am curious about.

Edited October 17, 2006 by rocky top buzz

[Lexy]

They are re-doing the restarurants and the restaruant choices on the concourses, and they are also doing some more work to the "looks" of the councourses I believe. Overall, the terminal is still in good shape with no REAL signs of dating inside, just a few areas where attention needs to be given. Pictures? I don't have any, nor have I seen any published yet. Security gets an update and some other stuff is happening. I don't know everything, but I do believe it will improve the airport a bit.

[franktown]

I'm really not happy about the consolodation of security because typically if SWA had a long line (as they frequently do) I could hop on over to the other side and often it was a short line. I'm looking forward to the more Nashville-esque restaurants to give people more of an idea of our town. Overall we have a great looking airport, especially when compared to some other airports of our size. I think a few skylights in the concourses, and updating some of the teal would make it look totally new.

PS. We can now fly to Love Field with only one connection, yaay SWA!

[Lexy]

Tough luck. Too bad it isn't non-stop like it should be. I hate connections. LOL!

[Lexy]

Check this out.... http://www.flynashville.com/renovation/default.aspx

[cheeriokid61]

That's great. Thanks for the link. The floorplans confused the crap out of me, but the upcoming restaurants page helped give an idea of where they will go. As a side note, I just went flew through Pittsburgh's airport today, and it's really cool. Very nice and modern, especially considering it's Nashville's airport's age. Also, the setup was cool, with the tram running underneath, and emptying out into a huge food/retail court where all the terminals combine. It was nice.

Edited October 18, 2006 by cheeriokid61

[Lexy]

That's great. Thanks for the link. The floorplans confused the crap out of me, but the upcoming restaurants page helped give an idea of where they will go. As a side note, I just went flew through Pittsburgh's airport today, and it's really cool. Very nice and modern, especially considering it's Nashville's airport's age. Also, the setup was cool, with the tram running underneath, and emptying out into a huge food/retail court where all the terminals combine. It was nice.

They do have a nice terminal. It was at one point, a very large Focus City for US Airways. Now it isn't though. Still an important city, but the city as a whole has led the airport to be less busy than it used to be. Still, it has respectable PAX numbers and certainly has a bright future ahead of it. I doubt that US Airways will be a huge part of that future, but you never know.

[rocky top buzz]

Check this out.... http://www.flynashville.com/renovation/default.aspx

Now see that's what I was looking for the other day! Did they just put that up today?

If so, maybe some insiders are on this site?

[Lexy]

It has been up for a while I think. But who knows. LOL!!

[BrandonTO416]

Pittsburgh's airport is a great design, one of the best in the world. It was the largest US Air hub until 2002, when US Air transferred most of its flights to Charlotte in a cost-savings move.

Pittsburgh's airport was built from the ground up and opened in 1992, and US Air never paid off the debt from the airport it had built. The landing fees caught up with them after 9/11 when they almost went bankrupt.

Its a really sad story, because Pittsburgh's airport is underutilized.

[Lexy]

^Yeah it is underutilized. I have never really figured out why though. Great city and a great location for the airport, just bad luck and perhaps bad management.

[BrandonTO416]

There's not much that can be done, they built a billion dollar airport that was yet to be paid off by the time 9/11 happened. US Air is the only reason it was built, and they left in a cost savings move.

I mean you can't blame them for wanting the cost savings of an airport that is cheaper, but the Pittsburgh airport authority wouldn't have built the airport had it not been for US Air lobbying and getting it for the sole purpose of it being their largest hub.

Catch 22!

While Toronto-Pearson isn't in the same mode, you really notice when an airport takes on a big project. Back in 2002-2003 I could fly to Toronto even with all the international fees for $199-$230 depending on the time of year. Now that Toronto-Pearson built a huge multi-billion new terminal and a mega-huge (in fact disgustingly huge) freeway and transportation system the landing fees shot up. You can't find a flight for less than $330 today.

Big, big difference for building a nice airport.

Makes me think twice before supporting an airport that is overly elegant. LOL

Edited October 19, 2006 by heckles

[Lexy]

^ Very true. I was looking at their numbers and they show a slight increase in PAX for the month of August this year. SWA being the main reason for that. Currently, flights for SWA connect in Chicago, but I believe Nashville is about to get a nod for flights from here to there from what I hear. It still could be a year or so away, but I know BNA is suppose to go NS to Dallas and a few more cities like Tulsa and others that are not currently served from here before too long.

Edited October 19, 2006 by Lexy

[franktown]

Pittsburgh's airport is a great design, one of the best in the world.

On another note, have any of you all seen the new Madrid Bajaras airport? It just recieved the prestegious Stirling Prize of archeticture, and it was beautiful from what I saw online.