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Nashville International Airport Development thread


Lexy

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Nashville is just too big (and too diverse) a city now to have to rely on other airports to get you where you want to go. In the end, the fact that the city relies too heavily on other cities airports will play into the recruitment of big business'. Mark my words. I hope it changes very soon, or else the airport leadership needs to be called in to the carpet.

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You mean this picture???

67645027.ZjnJsAPO.aswacloseup2.jpg

If so, no. It appears he has a headset on with a microphone extended to his mouth. LOL!! BUT, he is wearing a baseball cap. Which is kinda funny for a commercial pilot. LOL!!!

But if you are talking about the Northwest Co-pilot, then he is just chillin'. Those windows were made to pop open like that, and really...it gets hot up there in those old clankers. Air conditioning isn't in full force till they take flight, so you gotta cool off someway.

Edited by Lexy
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Airport update!!!

Delta will add a SECOND non-stop destination from BNA. Currently, Delta Connection (Skywest Airlines) operates daily flights from Nashville to the Delta hub in Salt Lake City, Utah on a CRJ-900. As of October 31st, that route will close and then re-open November 1st as a mainline flight from Nashville to Salt Lake City on a Delta jet. Meaning more leg room etc. etc. This is great news as this flight has gained some popularity with the vacation crowd here in Nashville as well as the business community.

Edited by Lexy
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737-800 or an MD-88 would be my guess. It really depends on the numbers, but I am going to say an MD-88 to get it off the ground, then perhaps a bump up to the 737-800 after it grows some more.

It would be nice if it was a 757, but I guess I can wish. LOL!!!

We've already got one flight with a daily 757 running on a Thursday-Monday Atlanta route. I guess I should be happy with that, eh? LOL!

Edited by Lexy
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I guess all the traffic from Nashville to Vegas is continuing to build. I can't believe how many people fly out of the "Buckle of the Bible Belt" to "Sin City"! The half dozen times I've flown to Vegas, I went out of BNA on SWA. The plane was always friggin packed. Also, I continue to be impressed by the sheer numbers of O&D traffic out of BNA... very busy place for a non-hub. The folks in charge should be commended.

ALso, Lexy, I wouldn't have thought that a thread on the airport would have had much life to it. But you (and others) have made it a personal favorite of mine. Apparently, others are interested too. Thanks.

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Lexy does seem to have tapped a fertile subject. I monitor the thread for numerous reasons including personal and professional travel. A world class airport is one of the signs of a dynamic growing city. The way I see it the more BNA grows the less I have to see the backside of ATL (the aiirport not the poster). lol

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I can't think of any major (or even minor) destination in NA that you can't get to non-stop if you fly out of ATL. So that begs the question, why would any airline duplicate that from Nashville when we are only a 30 minute flight from ATL? Or best hope is that Delta's presence grows at BNA, and then we can get some "direct" flights.

How do destinations from BNA match up to Memphis and Charlotte? I would use that as my gauge to determine how successful we are.

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How do destinations from BNA match up to Memphis and Charlotte? I would use that as my gauge to determine how successful we are.

As far as major cities go, BNA has service to most of the ones that MEM and CLT has. BNA just doesn't have the regional service or the multiple international destinations that those two have simply because they are hubs.

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I can't think of any major (or even minor) destination in NA that you can't get to non-stop if you fly out of ATL. So that begs the question, why would any airline duplicate that from Nashville when we are only a 30 minute flight from ATL? Or best hope is that Delta's presence grows at BNA, and then we can get some "direct" flights.

How do destinations from BNA match up to Memphis and Charlotte? I would use that as my gauge to determine how successful we are.

Shouldn't compare BNA and MEM. Sure, they both have non-stops to all/most major cities in the U.S. But since MEM is a hub, you'll also get non-stops to regional places like Alexandria, LA, Hattiesburg, MS, Rome, GA -- cities in that tier, that you wouldn't necessary get at BNA.

I don't think I agree that the airport is a guage of the city. If that be the case, Detroit would have to be considered a "dynamic, world-class" city. While that's somewhat true, it's not entirely true. This argument results in hubs being given special preferene they don't always deserve...

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Actually I stated:

"A world class airport is one of the signs of a dynamic growing city"

I agree that there are many other factors including population and employment trends and quality of life issues. Detroit does seem to still be enjoying some perks from when it was a player.

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Detroit and Windsor, Ontario both have vibrant suburbs, so the statement does hold true to their airport and cities overall health. Detroit may falter, but the rest of the region is just fine. Why does the Memphis airport do well, Casinos and connections for starters.

I'm glad everyone enjoys this thread.

On the topic of destinations, every single major hub or destination in the US is reachable from BNA non-stop. On mulitple flights a day too. The only difference in BNA and MEM is the fact that in MEM, you can get to hole in the wall places like Paducah, KY and places that Rardy listed, which are okay if you have a need to get there. Otherwise, it's just overkill and taking up space and a flight slot for the airport. Why would they duplicate it (service) 30 minutes north of ATL? Because it's easier to fly out of here than ATL. It's cheeper to slot into here, to maintain here, and to park an aircraft here. Plus, if you have the traffic to justify a flight from here, why wouldn't you fly it from here??? Are you implying that Delta would be the sole operator of international flights??? If so, I can think of three more reasons why they would offer service from here. Continental, United, and American. None of which have large presences in ATL.

Edited by Lexy
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Paducah....hole in the wall? I resent that :cry:. LOL (I'm joking!!! So don't anyone think I was being serious!)

It is nice though from our perspective to have flights from Paducah, KY (and Jackson,TN) to other larger regional cities. Now whether it matters much to most folks in the bigger cities that their airports offer flights that come here, thats a whole other matter.

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Paducah....hole in the wall? I resent that :cry:. LOL (I'm joking!!! So don't anyone think I was being serious!)

It is nice though from our perspective to have flights from Paducah, KY (and Jackson,TN) to other larger regional cities. Now whether it matters much to most folks in the bigger cities that their airports offer flights that come here, thats a whole other matter.

LOL! RK, you know what I mean. Good points though. To the "big City Slicker" it may not mean a hill of beans. But to the small city and small town folk, it means the world. I know how hard Owensboro, KY has fought to keep their two or three flights a day to St. Louis on American Eagle. So I can see your points.

The point is Nashville can get you anywhere you want to go just like any other airport. You don't have to have a hub to have international flights, just passenger numbers. Take a look at Raleigh (London), Kansas City (Mexico), Nashville (Canada and Mexico), etc. Of course, if you want a route to London or to Paris, you don't have to have an American company flying that route either. Most on here have ignored that. If we want flights to China, we already have the airline, we just get them to piggyback it on a PAX mainliner (this is totally for example sake). Last year alone, over 7,000 people flew out of BNA to China. More than triple that and that's how many flew to Europe from here. The numbers are there, but the cost (fuel) and the legislative pull are not at this point. Point is, if the people want it and they have shown a need for it, it will happen regardless of whether or not you are a hub.

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Paducah....hole in the wall? I resent that :cry:. LOL (I'm joking!!! So don't anyone think I was being serious!)

That was my first thought too!!! Maybe Ledbetter, but not Paducah!!! (Lexy, I'm just pokin' fun too!)

I was a bit surprised back in the summer when some friends coming from Jackson, MS had to connect through ATL to get here. It just seems like BNA would go direct.

So, do you think ATL and MEM hurt BNA in terms of direct flights?

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LOL! RK, you know what I mean. Good points though. To the "big City Slicker" it may not mean a hill of beans. But to the small city and small town folk, it means the world. I know how hard Owensboro, KY has fought to keep their two or three flights a day to St. Louis on American Eagle. So I can see your points.

The point is Nashville can get you anywhere you want to go just like any other airport. You don't have to have a hub to have international flights, just passenger numbers. Take a look at Raleigh (London), Kansas City (Mexico), Nashville (Canada and Mexico), etc. Of course, if you want a route to London or to Paris, you don't have to have an American company flying that route either. Most on here have ignored that. If we want flights to China, we already have the airline, we just get them to piggyback it on a PAX mainliner (this is totally for example sake). Last year alone, over 7,000 people flew out of BNA to China. More than triple that and that's how many flew to Europe from here. The numbers are there, but the cost (fuel) and the legislative pull are not at this point. Point is, if the people want it and they have shown a need for it, it will happen regardless of whether or not you are a hub.

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.

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The point is Nashville can get you anywhere you want to go just like any other airport. You don't have to have a hub to have international flights, just passenger numbers. Take a look at Raleigh (London), Kansas City (Mexico), Nashville (Canada and Mexico), etc.

Isn't the Raleigh-London flight subsidized by GlaxoSmithKline?

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Shouldn't compare BNA and MEM. Sure, they both have non-stops to all/most major cities in the U.S. But since MEM is a hub, you'll also get non-stops to regional places like Alexandria, LA, Hattiesburg, MS, Rome, GA -- cities in that tier, that you wouldn't necessary get at BNA.

I understand MEM has a hub, and that's why I think the comparison from a business aspect is important. If I own a business where my employees travel all over the country, I'm going to want the most destinations.

I don't care about the short hop destinations. If I can drive there in 4 hours, that's probably more efficient than flying anyway (assuming you'll get to the airport 2 hours before flight. Be on the plane for an hour, then spend 30 minutes getting off the plane and collecting your bags). I'm thinking of cities that you may do business in but aren't huge cities (and don't have disney world). Examples:

Richmond, VA

Jackson, MS

Jacksonville, FL

Corpus Christi, TX

Albequerque, NM

Portland, OR

Columbus, OH

Buffalo, NY

I could go on, but my point is that these are major business centers that we can't get to direct. The more time an employee spends traveling, the less efficient for business. I know we'll never be what Atlanta is, and that's fine. But I think we should be able to compete with our local and peer cities across the nation. At least we have SWA.

Edited by rocky top buzz
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I would like to see Alaskan Airlines open a flight to Anchorage - It doesn't have to be a direct flight but if it stopped in Seattle (their true hub) it might make it more viable. Just a thought.

I like the idea of Frontier hubbing BNA. That would take care of a lot of the stigma of not being a hub. Also - WestJet would be a nice addition.

Actually - now that I think about it.... American should really pump up the offerings at BNA.

Edited by memphian
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I understand MEM has a hub, and that's why I think the comparison from a business aspect is important. If I own a business where my employees travel all over the country, I'm going to want the most destinations.

I don't care about the short hop destinations. If I can drive there in 4 hours, that's probably more efficient than flying anyway (assuming you'll get to the airport 2 hours before flight. Be on the plane for an hour, then spend 30 minutes getting off the plane and collecting your bags). I'm thinking of cities that you may do business in but aren't huge cities (and don't have disney world). Examples:

Richmond, VA

Jackson, MS

Jacksonville, FL

Corpus Christi, TX

Albequerque, NM

Portland, OR

Columbus, OH

Buffalo, NY

I could go on, but my point is that these are major business centers that we can't get to direct. The more time an employee spends traveling, the less efficient for business. I know we'll never be what Atlanta is, and that's fine. But I think we should be able to compete with our local and peer cities across the nation. At least we have SWA.

I see what you're saying. I was just trying to make the point that it's not normal for a city to have as many direct connections as Memphis does (we connect directly to half the cities on your list above). I would dare say that Memphis is far above average for cities in the 1.2 to 1.75 million range. So from a research standpoint, Memphis should be compared to similarly-sized hubs, and Nashville to similarly-sized non-hubs, just to be fair.

And from a business stand-point, yes, it definitely helps to be in a hub-city. But it's also considerably more expensive too. I'd much rather live in a non-hub city and have layovers than in a hub city and pay the high prices. :(

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