Jump to content

Nashville International Airport Development thread


Lexy

Recommended Posts


3 hours ago, markhollin said:

For any of my fellow frequent fliers, here's a reflection I posted today about my 2,000th flight...many of which departed from or arrived into the old Berry Field terminal back in the day, as well as our newer facilities from the past several decades.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-hollingsworth/2000-flights/10154095322926280

 

Berry Field 1970s.jpg

I loved reading that.  Thank you.  I grew up in airports and airplanes, my dad was a flight engineer at good ol' Eastern Airlines so my family got to fly for free (first class!) to pretty much anywhere.  But you have been to far more places than I have.  And I wholeheartedly agree about Continental.  I shed no tears when it was gobbled up by American.  I remember Braniff's psychedelic color schemes, the smartly dressed, always young and very perky stewardesses (hubba hubba), people dressing up in their Sunday best before catching a flight.

I also enjoyed seeing that picture of the old Barry Field.  I have fond memories of that airport.  I can still remember the smell inside the terminal, something like a mixture of cigarette smoke, coffee, and jet fuel.  I also loved that the old terminal had an outdoor patio right there on the tarmac where we could watch and hear the planes and feel the jet blast from planes backing out of their gates and headed towards the runways.  It was a lot more fun to fly in those days, what without the maddening security lines, luggage limits, carry-on restrictions, crusty old flight attendants...  Good times.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, markhollin said:

For any of my fellow frequent fliers, here's a reflection I posted today about my 2,000th flight...many of which departed from or arrived into the old Berry Field terminal back in the day, as well as our newer facilities from the past several decades.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-hollingsworth/2000-flights/10154095322926280
 

This is awesome...2,000 flights. Thank you for sharing this with us!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I loved reading that.  Thank you.  I grew up in airports and airplanes, my dad was a flight engineer at good ol' Eastern Airlines so my family got to fly for free (first class!) to pretty much anywhere.  But you have been to far more places than I have.  And I wholeheartedly agree about Continental.  I shed no tears when it was gobbled up by American.  I remember Braniff's psychedelic color schemes, the smartly dressed, always young and very perky stewardesses (hubba hubba), people dressing up in their Sunday best before catching a flight.

I also enjoyed seeing that picture of the old Barry Field.  I have fond memories of that airport.  I can still remember the smell inside the terminal, something like a mixture of cigarette smoke, coffee, and jet fuel.  I also loved that the old terminal had an outdoor patio right there on the tarmac where we could watch and hear the planes and feel the jet blast from planes backing out of their gates and headed towards the runways.  It was a lot more fun to fly in those days, what without the maddening security lines, luggage limits, carry-on restrictions, crusty old flight attendants...  Good times.

I used to go to the old airport a lot as a kid in the '70s and early '80s (since all of our family was out of town), and remembered the patio outside (noisy !), which was built over when American got its hub (shortly before the new airport went up). Riding up the escalator to the main concourse and seeing the "Take Five" lounge (too young to get drinks there and pick up stewardesses :-P). Didn't have to worry about being strip-searched or getting radiated by the machines. I could run between the gates pretending to be O.J. Simpson. The scariest part of flying then was the possibility of taking a side-trip to Havana rather than getting blown to bits by you-know-who. Getting a pair of metal & plastic wings from the Captain and being asked if I enjoyed gladiator movies. Yup, good times.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I loved reading that.  Thank you.  I grew up in airports and airplanes, my dad was a flight engineer at good ol' Eastern Airlines so my family got to fly for free (first class!) to pretty much anywhere.  But you have been to far more places than I have.  And I wholeheartedly agree about Continental.  I shed no tears when it was gobbled up by American.  I remember Braniff's psychedelic color schemes, the smartly dressed, always young and very perky stewardesses (hubba hubba), people dressing up in their Sunday best before catching a flight.

I also enjoyed seeing that picture of the old Barry Field.  I have fond memories of that airport.  I can still remember the smell inside the terminal, something like a mixture of cigarette smoke, coffee, and jet fuel.  I also loved that the old terminal had an outdoor patio right there on the tarmac where we could watch and hear the planes and feel the jet blast from planes backing out of their gates and headed towards the runways.  It was a lot more fun to fly in those days, what without the maddening security lines, luggage limits, carry-on restrictions, crusty old flight attendants...  Good times.

Oh, so you're no spring chicken either, I see. -=-_-=-

Yes, that was back when many others, such as DCA "National" used to have open-air observation decks for viewing planes (and sniffing prop-engine fumes).  It had still been in vogue back then to dress up for both air and rail travel, no matter how long the trip was.  I actually miss Braniff, and all their various solid-color planes.  I believe I eventually rode every color at least one time or another.  Of course back then, even the mobile ramps bearing the airline logos were as grand as the planes themselves, at Berry Field.  I'm almost embarrassed to say that, not only did I go to the train stations to feed my eyes, I also used to spend Saturdays before 1967 (when I got my full driver's license) riding the city-bus to the airport and feasting on the activity there.  I also recall being able to check unwieldy and even outlandish things as baggage, such as Olympic-type barbells and large foot-locker trunks, which most students did as the norm back then.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know I'm a broken record, but damn, BNA has GOT to fix their passenger pick up and baggage claim. Just flew in, and even at 11:00PM it was a mad house. It's just all so poorly laid out for the level of traffic it receives. It'd work fine if, say, it was handling levels seen in Knoxville, but it's so far beyond carrying capacity now that it needs a complete redesign. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Nathan_in_DC said:

I know I'm a broken record, but damn, BNA has GOT to fix their passenger pick up and baggage claim. Just flew in, and even at 11:00PM it was a mad house. It's just all so poorly laid out for the level of traffic it receives. It'd work fine if, say, it was handling levels seen in Knoxville, but it's so far beyond carrying capacity now that it needs a complete redesign. 

Just keep on remaining "broken", as far as I am concerned, Nathan.

I only wish a multitude more would be locally would be as vocal (without being "postal") with probably my worse peeve by far at that terminal, other than with the TSA lines themselves.  While I don't just sit in front of the TV and "trawl" for news on BNA' baggage and passenger -pick-up snafus, I don't recall anything ever being brought to media attention, even once, not to say that it hasn't been aired at least once.  It's previously been discussed in this thread about the physical and structural constraints in revamping the baggage-claim area, due to the existing design of the terminal, now spanning its 4th calendar decade.  I think you, as well as RonCamp, NashRugger, FarmBoy, and a few others had started to barf pea soup on this, during the last 12-13 months.

It seems to go in hand with the clogged TSA checkpoint lines ─ notwithstanding budget cuts and staffing of TSA ─ that the mounting increase in passengers always "pressurizes" the weakest handling processes first, as exceeded capacity becomes the norm.  Unlike with a reservoir dam for impounding water, baggage handling can't be regulated with a parallel array of spillway gates, and it can't be (ethically and logistically) "breached", either by nature or by design.  Perhaps terminal baggage-handling management as a whole could team up with the likes of Amazon Fulfillment Centers and adopt new technology for distribution (stacker-cranes; drones? [LoL]), none of which would work without overdue attention given to the way people line up around the "feed troughs".

Seems that BNA is coming under "trial", to remain one of your favorite airports to fly in and out of, LoL.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As an update, I did reach out to MNAA on Twitter about the state of their baggage claim and pickup. Surprisingly, they promptly responded, saying that renovations are scheduled for later this year and would involve a complete reconfiguration of the traffic flow and removal of the 10 minute spaces. I would expect they will begin after the end of the summer travel season. 

Edited by Nathan_in_DC
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I flew out of BNA this afternoon on my way to Paris. After hearing all the hubbub about ridiculous wait times, I arrived 3 hours early, only to breeze through security in less than 10 minutes despite massive amounts of people. So with a lot of time to spare before my flight, I wandered around the airport. Every concourse was packed which was good to see. I remember how sparse things were after American dismantled its hub. It was also fun to see the new airlines like Alaskan, WestJet, and JetBlue.

A cute young couple was sitting next to me at the gate, headed back to Winnipeg. It had been their first trip to Nashville and they couldn't stop gushing about how much they loved it. They came for a conference and now want to come back just to goof off downtown.

Anyway, even though my experience was just a snapshot of a midweek afternoon at BNA, based on the crowds, the number of flights and the number of airlines, I just can't imagine that it will be much longer before we get a nonstop to London.

I flew out this morning and got to the airport at 6:30. There was a crazy, crazy long line of people checking in at Southwest. Was there some kind of convent that wrapped up today? It was insane. But thankfully I had my boarding pass. And I happen to have precheck so got through security in just 10 minutes. Precheck is the best $85 I gave ever spent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, AUNash said:

I flew out this morning and got to the airport at 6:30. There was a crazy, crazy long line of people checking in at Southwest. Was there some kind of convent that wrapped up today? It was insane. But thankfully I had my boarding pass. And I happen to have precheck so got through security in just 10 minutes. Precheck is the best $85 I gave ever spent.

Southwest is always a nuthouse at BNA, so I presume that's part of it. I've considered flying other airlines more often simply because I can almost guarantee they will be less busy than Southwest...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have access to the long-term planning documents/diagrams for the airport and terminal areas?  They are supposedly online, but I have never been able to locate them.  Would be great to have it posted here on this thread.  If it has ALREADY been posted (I don't have time to go back through 52 pages of comments), could we get a refreshed post now?  Thanks!  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are some diagrams of proposed future expansion for BNA Terminal, auto access, and runways.   These are part of the larger proposals (around 150 pages of reading) created about 5 years ago that are in the links that RonCamp posted immediately above this. Sad to say that there does not seem to be any planning for rail of any sort in and out of the airport.  There is mention in some of the text about a possible on-site hotel, but it doesn't appear to show up on any of the schematics. 



Overall site. If there would be a 5th runway added, it would be at the bottom (east). In this diagram north is to the right.

Airport Expansion diagram 1.jpeg

 

The only terminal expansion would be adding three gates onto the north end of A Concourse, and possibly restructuring the end of B concourse for some bigger jets. These are shown in purple. IMO, any further growth should happen by extending Concourse D (at the bottom, the the right of Concourse C. 

Airport Expansion 2.jpeg

 

Here are their recommended new traffic entrance/egress plans.

Airport Expansion 3.jpeg

 

The proposed location of Runway 5:

Airport Expansion 4.jpeg



Proposed extension of one of the primary runways to create a second option based on wind pattern for the big-boy jets.

Airport Expansion 5.jpeg

 

Propsed baggage claim expansion.  This is particularly disappointing, in that it is only adding a single conveyor carousel at the far left of the Baggage Claim area.   None of these are properly set-up to handle really large-capacity planes, nor are they ready to receive any international flights. 

Airport expansion 6.jpeg

 

Another diagram of traffic flow.

Airport expansion 8.jpeg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disappointing about baggage claim.  I fly in and out of BNA often - though usually without checked bags I always walk through the baggage claim to get to my Uber.  It's a real mess down there... often now reaching the point where it's so crowded that the masses clog up the bottom of the stairs and escalator down from the concourse exits.  This plan isn't enough to solve these problems.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, titanhog said:

Looks like if they ever do that runway extension over M'Boro Pike, they'll have to buy up a lot of land, including homes and an office building.

I think that actually is the last in the line. Runway #5, the 4th parallel, has a higher ranking because it's on land already owned by the airport and is mostly just woodlands. 

The extension of the westernmost runway won't happen until cargo is moved, in addition to all the homes, businesses, and the massive overpass over Mufreesboro Road is done.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.