Nashville International Airport Development thread

[northernbizzkit1]

Yes we are. Makes one wonder what is around the corner here.

It'd be neat to see FedEx open up something in Nashville. I'd much rather it be at BNA than in IND

[Lexy]

It'd be neat to see FedEx open up something in Nashville. I'd much rather it be at BNA than in IND

Well, they opened up a 70,000 sq. foot sorting facility (airport site) here in August of '06. They have scheduled widebody service daily from Raleigh and Memphis with it. I know they are expanding it already, so I don't know if that will translate into more flights, but they have said they are willing to throw down some cash here in this market to make it a reliever for both MEM and IND. I suppose time will tell, but Dell and Gateway (both have large presence's here in town) computes ship via FedEx and I know that has helped with the recent growth.

[Lexy]

Nashville International Airport ranks high in the USNews and World Reports list of Most Miserable Airports in the US. Memphis isn't too far behind us as well. That speaks volumes for both of the states main ports of entry. Nashville is the 7th best airport in the nation and Memphis is the 13th best according to their rankings. Here is the complete article and listings: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/artic....largetable.htm

Enjoy!

[ATLBrain]

Whoa! Lexy, is ranking high on a list of miserable places a good thing? LOL

[jcoop]

when I first read that post, I thought that was a bad thing, but after reading the article I see the lower number rankings are good...

question: why does it say Nashville: Nashville metropolitan instead of Nashville International? Just a mistake? or is there a reason?

nevermind, I guess it is the same reason Detroit just says Detroit Metro Wayne County and others like that because it serves the Nashville metro area I guess...

Edited June 16, 2007 by jcoop

[BrandonTO416]

Detroit Metro airport was never named an international airport by the local agencies and government. Its actually a huge international hub via Northwest with many flights to asia, europe, south america, and etc.

So an airport doesn't have to have the international monkier in order to be an international airport.

Two major things that bug me though are:

1) Nashville International is the official name by both the airport authority and city government. Publications that continue to use Nashville Metro or Municipal airport need some major updating, it hasn't been called Nashville Metropolitan Airport since 1987 when the new terminal opened at its current location.

2) The road signs in Nashville are atrocious. The city and TDOT should be ashamed for showing signs that say "Int'l Airport" with nothing else. Ever since 1987 these dorky signs have been ever-updated with the same msg. "Int'l Airport" with no other identifier.

First off, it should say Nashville International Airport in clear, unabbreviated lettering on both directions of I-40. The only official lettering is the actual airport authority's sign as you head east on I-40. The green interstate signage needs updating and its an embarrassment to have it listed as it is today.

Edited June 16, 2007 by heckles

[Lexy]

Detroit Metro airport was never named an international airport by the local agencies and government. Its actually a huge international hub via Northwest with many flights to asia, europe, south america, and etc.

So an airport doesn't have to have the international monkier in order to be an international airport.

Two major things that bug me though are:

1) Nashville International is the official name by both the airport authority and city government. Publications that continue to use Nashville Metro or Municipal airport need some major updating, it hasn't been called Nashville Metropolitan Airport since 1987.

2) The road signs in Nashville are atrocious. The city and TDOT should be ashamed for showing signs that say "Int'l Airport" with nothing else. Ever since 1987 these dorky signs have been ever-updated with the same msg. "Int'l Airport" with no other identifier.

First off, it should say Nashville International Airport in clear, unabbreviated lettering on both directions of I-40. The only official lettering is the actual airport authority's sign as you head east on I-40. The green interstate signage needs updating and its an embarrassment to have it listed as it is today.

Heckles, you and I need to get together and talk about some of this stuff. We are on the same damn wave length here and I think we could really get a good conversation going if we only had the time and place to do it. I agree 100% about the road signs.

[nashscan]

While you two are lobbying to update our signs, do you think we can make I-24/40 between 440 and the downtown loop wider and visually appealing to our guests traveling from the airport and staying and playing and conventioning downtown?

Edited June 16, 2007 by nashscan

[Lexy]

Fascinating, hot, and exciting weekend at the airport. We had the rock group "The Police" come in on a DC-8, a cargo one at that! Military ops out the tail and some interesting info regarding Northwest Airlines new regional service called Compass Airlines.

First the Compass deal. Apparently Nashville will be a big player in this new regional airline. We can expect to know more closer to September when their planes (Embraer 170's) are expected to start flying into here from possibly Detroit or Washington D.C. Northwest is also comtemplating upgrading a flight here in Nashville from a A320 to a 757-200. It will most likely be a Detroit or Minny flight as those are always overbooked and have returned a decent profit for the airline. These are from sources involved with NWA's BNA operations.

Now on with to the pictures!

Tennessee's 578th National Guard Unit deployed themselves to Iraq today via a ATA 757-23N.

US Marines were in town yesterday with some impressive CH-53E Super Stallions!

This was a Bonnaroo charter for "The Police". An ATI DC-8-72F.

[Lexy]

Let me correct myself on one thing about Compass Airlines. They will start flying here on August 21st. We are one of four launch cities for them on their Embraer 175's. The other three cities are Dallas, Missoula, and Omaha. Omaha is the first offical flight.

This could get really interesting here fairly soon.

Edited June 17, 2007 by Lexy

[Lexy]

Hello? Anyone there? Am I speaking to myself??

[smeagolsfree]

I just like looking at all the pictures Great job as always Lexy. I saw the helicopters taking off the other day. Very impressive.

[franktown]

I was in the airport on May 31 and came back in on June 16th and renovations seem to really be coming along! I REALLY love the carpet in the C Terminal - it makes things so much quieter- although I already see stains. Do we know when the first phase is supposed to be finished, because at this point the airport is looking pretty rough IMO.

[Lexy]

I was in the airport on May 31 and came back in on June 16th and renovations seem to really be coming along! I REALLY love the carpet in the C Terminal - it makes things so much quieter- although I already see stains. Do we know when the first phase is supposed to be finished, because at this point the airport is looking pretty rough IMO.

Well, supposedly the carpet is easier to replace than the tile. And much easier to clean (I don't know how though). The first phase should last a while as most of the grunt work is happening in it. So an end date is unknown at this time (atleast I don't know it).

Here is something interesting, it appears American Airlines has, or is, upgrading a flight from regional to mainline here. Flight 1792 from Washington D.C. appears to have gone mainline within the last week on an MD-80. This is VERY, VERY intersting as D.C. isn't a big connection point for AA at all. Matter of fact, it's just a typical outstation much like a "Louisville" or a Omaha" would be to the company. Makes me wonder if a AA buildup is on the horizon here just a little bit. If so, Nashville is slowly becoming a small "Focus" type operation for American in this region. That could be really good in the long run as they hold the leases on every single gate on C Concourse still to this day.

I appreciate everyone that takes part in this thread. It needs to have more discussion and more talk in it though and less of my pictures. Pictures are great, but a dialogue needs to be in place so that we can keep up with the changes that are taking place out on Donelson Pike.

Edited June 18, 2007 by Lexy

[jcoop]

I love this thread as well because the airport and airports/airline business in general fascinates me...but my knowledge of the subject is extremely limited and I enjoy taking in everything that you are able to pass along Lexy. It surprised me when this thread first started how much everyone seemed to want to take part in the discussions, and I think a lot of people are kind of waiting on something big and new to happen at the airport. Your updates seem to indicate that we could be on the horizon of something big though...

[Lexy]

I love this thread as well because the airport and airports/airline business in general fascinates me...but my knowledge of the subject is extremely limited and I enjoy taking in everything that you are able to pass along Lexy. It surprised me when this thread first started how much everyone seemed to want to take part in the discussions, and I think a lot of people are kind of waiting on something big and new to happen at the airport. Your updates seem to indicate that we could be on the horizon of something big though...

I hope that big things do happen here. But I can't converse with myself unfortunatly (although my wife would differ on that, LOL!). Alot, if not the majority, of what is happening downtown in the way of business' expanding and buildings being constructed all tie into the airport and it's overall health. The two go hand in hand here.

[nashvillwill]

i love this thread, although i must admit that i have little knowledge of the airline industry. Lexy, let me ask you(or anyone for that matter) what is the difference in a "regional" and "mainline" flight? does it have to do with the frequency of flights/layovers? i dont expect you to always explain things in every post, but maybe you could put a terminology page on your website. would that be to much to ask?

anyways, thanks for the pictures of "The Police" charter flight. I was at Bonnaroo this past weekend and i was wondering about helicopters. They constatly fly overhead all weekend, and i assume that is how the bigtime artist get into and out-of the site(terrible traffic and all). Did you notice an increase in heliport traffic this weekend?

[Jonny11788]

what is the difference in a "regional" and "mainline" flight? does it have to do with the frequency of flights/layovers?

The distinction between regional and mainline can have several meanings; firstly, it can refer to the size of the aircraft. Any plane that has more than 75 seats or so would likely be considered a mainline aircraft, while anything with less than 75 would typically be considered a regional aircraft. The dividing line, though, is very fuzzy, and can change from airline to airline... or from person to person.

The terms can also refer to the company actually operating the flight. "Mainline" refers to a flight which is operated by the same company that advertises and sells the flight. Take Southwest, for example (all of their flights are considered mainline) -- you buy your ticket from Southwest, you check in at the airport with Southwest staff, and you fly on a plane operated by Southwest. On the other hand, "regional" flights in this sense refer to flights for which the company advertising and selling the service has contracted a different company to actually operate the flight. Take Continental, for example (all of their flights here at this time are "regional") -- you buy your ticket from Continental, but the company that operates the plane is not Continental, but ExpressJet. The plane will still be painted in Continental colors (typically), but the cabin crew and the ticket will both inform you that the flight is "Continental Airlines operated by ExpressJet" (or something along those lines).

Typically, a flight will fall into one category or the other, as big airlines contract out their small jet flying to other companies because it's usually cheaper -- and the pilot unions like it that way as well. There are some rare exceptions, of course... like the now-defunct Independence Air. They flew here with small, 40-passenger "regional" jets, but it was a "mainline" flight, as it wasn't contracted out to somebody else.

Hopefully I've helped more than I've confused... I'm not the greatest at explaining things all the time.

[nashvillwill]

thanks jonny, that helped me understand and confused the heck out of me at the same time.

[BrandonTO416]

I think that's a little more complicated than it really is, no offense jonny.

Most everyone (come to think of it, it is everyone) that I have talked to about carriers like Independence Air talked about them as "regional" carriers. They were considered regional jets that flew on a regional carrier.

Frontier uses mainline jets that service more of the nation, so they are considered a mainline discount carrier. But Frontier really didn't have a great deal more service locations than Independence did. They just have a lot of mainline jets vs. Independence.

Really its just semantics. The smaller jets are regional, the larger jets are mainline. Each carrier has the planes they choose for their own purposes, and Independence Air was an exclusively regional carrier.

[Lexy]

Here is the quick way to distinguish "mainline" and "regional". Mainline flights are operated by the parent company on parent company planes while regional flights are parent company flights that are flown on "regional" (smaller less spacious) aircraft and are flown by a contracted outside party. For example, American airlines flies mainline to Chicago from here on the MD-80. While American Connection (a regional affiliate of American Airlines) flies regional jets from here to Chicago as well on the Embraer 145 which is operated by Trans States Airlines.

nashvillewill, to answer your question about traffic. No, I didn't see and increase at the airport. With the exception of most flights full, nothing was too out of the ordinary out there. Most everyone, heck the majority of patrons, that go to Bonnaroo drive into Nashville and then on to Manchester.

Mainline:

Regional:

Edited June 19, 2007 by Lexy

[northernbizzkit1]

I'm going to laugh if BNA gets the 757-200 people because I know the people at IND were so stoked and had to wait FOREVER to get a 757 flight out of there, and it's a focus city. I really hope this happens for you guys! I would think it'd go on the Detroit flight just because i know BNA-MSP will be served with mainline and added Compass service on the ERJs. Who knows...BNA-MEM would be cool on a 757 haha. I know those flights are always packed too

[Lexy]

I'm going to laugh if BNA gets the 757-200 people because I know the people at IND were so stoked and had to wait FOREVER to get a 757 flight out of there, and it's a focus city. I really hope this happens for you guys! I would think it'd go on the Detroit flight just because i know BNA-MSP will be served with mainline and added Compass service on the ERJs. Who knows...BNA-MEM would be cool on a 757 haha. I know those flights are always packed too

I doubt it would happen unless we get charter flights for the Titans on NW. Last year, and the year before that, the Titans used Delta as their airline of choice for transportation. But I have good word from a NW ramper here in Nashville that gate B4 has been readjusted on the ground to handle 757-300's with winglets. I realize that they have to have parking lines for every make and model airplane they fly, but they have always had lines for their 752's. 753's would be used for operations as large as the Titans. And it's also about that time of the year where football charters will be slowly starting up around here so this may signal a new flag carrier for the Titans more than anything else. When Delta comes in for the Titans, Mercury Air Services is the FBO that handles the flight for the Titans. So this may be for something all together different. Who knows.

[northernbizzkit1]

I doubt it would happen unless we get charter flights for the Titans on NW. Last year, and the year before that, the Titans used Delta as their airline of choice for transportation. But I have good word from a NW ramper here in Nashville that gate B4 has been readjusted on the ground to handle 757-300's with winglets. I realize that they have to have parking lines for every make and model airplane they fly, but they have always had lines for their 752's. 753's would be used for operations as large as the Titans. And it's also about that time of the year where football charters will be slowly starting up around here so this may signal a new flag carrier for the Titans more than anything else. When Delta comes in for the Titans, Mercury Air Services is the FBO that handles the flight for the Titans. So this may be for something all together different. Who knows.

yeah, that would explain a lot b/c it just seems like Northwest is refitting a TON of its 757s for international service. Hartford, CT has gotten an AMS flight, and I don't think it'll be the last city to get one.

[Lexy]

yeah, that would explain a lot b/c it just seems like Northwest is refitting a TON of its 757s for international service. Hartford, CT has gotten an AMS flight, and I don't think it'll be the last city to get one.

Boy that's a strange flight let me tell ya. 100% O&D. I hope it last for them. It would be nice if we could manage a AMS flight from here, but that's a pie in the sky type thing I believe.