Memphis International Airport

[jmduke]

NWA keeps shooting itself in the foot. NWA has lost leases on 15 to 25 of their A319s. During bankruptcy, NWA gambled that they would get what they wanted lease-wise out of EADS (Airbus parent) because no one would want used A/C and pay what EADS wanted for them. NWA lost that gamble and EADS was able to place these A/C at a price EADS wanted with the Russian start-up S7 Airlines.

NWA marketing would LOVE to have those airframes on the line. This is one reason why ONT and RNO closed, and a number of frequencies were cut back elsewhere. The operational and marketing folks at NWA are none too happy but the finance guys don't seem to care. As for the A320, some of the early ones are reaching their life-limit. NWA took its first A320 in 1988 and some of the early ones that did not spend a lot of time doing long leg-low cycle trips in Asia are timing out.

It looks like NWA has a narrowbody replenishment issue on its hands...

[northernbizzkit1]

Northwest flight en route to MEM from Seattle was diverted back to SEA due to a bomb threat today. Not really development news, but it's news nonetheless.

Development-wise: my flight kept getting delayed this weekend, so I got to scope out the airport. Baggage claim and the northern end of concourse C seems to be getting some facelifts. Should be nice. I gotta say, I can't wait to see how the new parking garage/tower/landscaping/rental car facilities turn out. So much construction and traffic, but the bridges and underpasses are forming.

[Memphis Love]

what exactly are they doing at the airport with the construction, just building a new tower and new parking garage?

[northernbizzkit1]

what exactly are they doing at the airport with the construction, just building a new tower and new parking garage?

It's a staggered thing...Right now is kind of an airport beautification and convenience stage with the addition of a new parking garage, a new 300-350 foot control tower (i forget the exact height), overall landscaping (which actually was kinda necessary), the addition of a cell-phone lot for people to wait in when picking up guests (instead of constantly looping the airport), rental car facilities are supposed to be moved to a more convenient location, and I've heard that the airport station for the light-rail will be built (haha, if MATATRAC is still a go and the route to the airport can be ironed out). According to the TDOT master-plan, after this, the next phase is work on the concourses (MUCH MUCH MUCH NEEDED!)

[Rardy]

^Today's MBJ has more info on this

When a new seven-story parking garage is built -- it is now being designed and initial cost estimates top $80 million -- Cargo Road could be used for temporary parking.

"We would be displacing several hundred cars," Beesley says.

Construction projects have been abundant around the airport over the past couple of years. A new outbound road was completed last year; work on a new $20.3 million inbound road is still ongoing and is expected to conclude in November, Polk says.

The projects will give way to a new air traffic control tower, estimated at about $50 million, which will be completely funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The new roads also enhance vehicular traffic flow to and from the airport, Polk says. Next month, traffic will be rerouted again for the final stages of the inbound road, Beesley says.

More in the article about the new Cargo Central which will replace the current cargo wing, opening up the space for terminal expansion "if and when we need it"...

[Rardy]

I found this quote in a Baton Rouge newspaper:

"In addition to beginning flights from Baton Rouge to Denver in two weeks, Frontier also recently began Denver flights to Vancouver, British Columbia; Memphis, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

Frontier also has begun connections from Memphis to Las Vegas and Memphis to Orlando."

Frontier is really banking on Memphis if we beat out Vancouver, Louisville, and Jacksonville for those 2 extra destinations???

[northernbizzkit1]

^Today's MBJ has more info on this

More in the article about the new Cargo Central which will replace the current cargo wing, opening up the space for terminal expansion "if and when we need it"...

very nice...if you notice when you go in, there are all sorts of upgrades going on in C Concourse. The retail expansion was nice, and I've noticed that past few times that I've flown out on Continental that there is construction/remodeling going on at the north end of C. If the cargo facilities were demolished, C would be really great for either Frontier to expand their ops or even for Northwest to have some sort of continuous flow operation due to a lack of traffic that is seen with the tarmac area between A and B concourses and between B and C concourses.

[northernbizzkit1]

I found this quote in a Baton Rouge newspaper:

"In addition to beginning flights from Baton Rouge to Denver in two weeks, Frontier also recently began Denver flights to Vancouver, British Columbia; Memphis, Tenn.; Louisville, Ky.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

Frontier also has begun connections from Memphis to Las Vegas and Memphis to Orlando."

Frontier is really banking on Memphis if we beat out Vancouver, Louisville, and Jacksonville for those 2 extra destinations???

Very sweet. Last week when i flew out and my flight kept getting delayed, I heard a few announcements for overbooked Frontier flights, so that's always a good sign (well, maybe not if you're a passenger haha). I know that they use the MEM-MCO (Orlando) flight for connecting passengers from Denver, so that's a plus that we have two airlines using the airport for connecting passengers now. I think Frontier chose wisely with MEM just because we were so neglected in the LCC field...they have top-notch service, so if we ever did get Southwest in MEM, perhaps the MEM market wouldn't be so receptive to it when it doesn't offer nearly the service that Frontier does. The new year is bringing additional MEM-LAS service as well as MEM-DEN and MEM-MCO service. Plus, the E170s are coming, so hopefully we'll see more continuous growth from Frontier. What's going to be fun is if Frontier adds Mexico service here, you know Northwest will respond with some nice additions too!

[Rardy]

Yet another article in today's CA about improvements to the airport

It gives more detail about the new control tower and access roads. I'm having a hard time placing where this new inbound road is going to be placed...

I'd never thought of this, but the airport can't plant just any kind of vegetation because it attracts birds. I'd kinda always judged the airport on being so bare. But they're planting $400,000 worth of "non-bird attractants" and that'll really help the aesthetics.

[northernbizzkit1]

hey, guys. The CEO of Frontier has left and a new one is currently being sought...this should certainly be interesting for Memphis, as the new CEO will definitely play a part into how MEM goes in terms of Frontier ops, and if he evens wants a secondary hub or focus city to complement Denver.

[G-townTN]

Frontier has added a flight to ft. lauderdale along with adding flights to other destinations.

What does this say about frontier in memphis?

[northernbizzkit1]

I just saw that. Pretty neat. Good for Frontier for finding a good following in Memphis. I know the MEM-MCO gets connections from Denver along with strong O&D numbers from MEM. It's kinda early to spec, but it would be nice to see MEM become dominant in easter ops for Frontier just to complement DEN. It'll be interesting to see how Northwest and even Airtran respond to this. You gotta wonder how much more Frontier can handle by just operating out of one gate in C.

Overall, this is really good news. Flights start November 15, so it will have a little time before Frontier starts its Christmas expansion of daily ops to DEN, MCO, and LAS.

[jmduke]

DBJ has some additional info about this expansion. Looks like 3 flights/day MEM-DEN are coming soon too.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stori...06/daily63.html

So, by mid-December, Frontier will have 3 flights to DEN, 2 to MCO, 1 to LAS (5 days per week), and 1 to FLL...up to 7 flights per day.

[Rardy]

^ so how many Frontier flights/day does this make?

[northernbizzkit1]

DBJ has some additional info about this expansion. Looks like 3 flights/day MEM-DEN are coming soon too.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stori...06/daily63.html

So, by mid-December, Frontier will have 3 flights to DEN, 2 to MCO, 1 to LAS (5 days per week), and 1 to FLL...up to 7 flights per day.

i thought MEM-LAS was going daily...i know it's now two or three times a week. 7 flights a day is great. It's funny that Frontier is flying that many a day out of one gate when I read on the airport website that the average use of a gate at MEM is a little over 4 times a day.

[tennreb]

I found a picture of the underground tunnel and the "rapid transit" system under construction at the airport. I wonder what happened to this. Why did they use this tunnel to connect the A and C terminals instead of building the elevated connector?

http://pictopia.com/perl/gal?process=galle...;sequencenum=12

[G-townTN]

^

I am sure it had to do with technology available at the time. It seems like most transit systems set up to transfer people around at airports in that era were built underground.

Does anybody know what these tunnels are even used for today? Also, were the tunnels ever actually used to their full potential when they were completed?

[James Owen]

^

I am sure it had to do with technology available at the time. It seems like most transit systems set up to transfer people around at airports in that era were built underground.

Does anybody know what these tunnels are even used for today? Also, were the tunnels ever actually used to their full potential when they were completed?

Sadly, these tunnels that were built under the terminal were never used. Heck, they even had access points that were pretty much blocked off that we're supposed to serve as transfer stations.

[northernbizzkit1]

I always heard that this was supposedly built for the future...basically, in case Memphis ever had a subway, this could be used. I wonder if this is how light rail will tie into the airport b/c on most MATAtrac maps of the tentative airport connection, it shows a stop at an airport intermodal station and then shows the train continuing to the main terminals.

[Rardy]

I just read where MidWest Airlines accepted the buyout offer from TGP (private equity firm) and NWA. Article here>>

What impact (if any) do you guys think this will have on the MEM hub?

[tennreb]

I just read where MidWest Airlines accepted the buyout offer from TGP (private equity firm) and NWA. Article here>>

What impact (if any) do you guys think this will have on the MEM hub?

Little. NW is just investing in Midwest to prevent Airtran from building a hub in the upper midwest.

[cdarr]

I always heard that this was supposedly built for the future...basically, in case Memphis ever had a subway, this could be used. I wonder if this is how light rail will tie into the airport b/c on most MATAtrac maps of the tentative airport connection, it shows a stop at an airport intermodal station and then shows the train continuing to the main terminals.

According to this report from MATA, section 4-11, one of the alternatives for routing MATAtrac to the terminal involves using this tunnel. MATAtrac would run south along Airways, then turn east and go through a yet-to-be-built tunnel beneath Runway 18R/36L. That tunnel would link up with the existing tunnel pictured in tennreb's post.

The airport's master plan (at least several years ago) used the tunnel for a peoplemover system to connect the terminal with an X-shaped satellite concourse south of the exisitng Concourse B. I think that's what it was originally designed for.

[G-townTN]

There is an interesting article about northwest and international service. It looks like they are going to try to increase flight numbers between u.s. and international cities by 45 percent. Also they are "seeking federal antitrust immunity that would allow them to fully cooperate with Delta, KLM, and Air France on transatlantic service."

Seems as if the memphis-paris flight is not out of the picture.

[G-townTN]

!

[northernbizzkit1]

There is an interesting article about northwest and international service. It looks like they are going to try to increase flight numbers between u.s. and international cities by 45 percent. Also they are "seeking federal antitrust immunity that would allow them to fully cooperate with Delta, KLM, and Air France on transatlantic service."

Seems as if the memphis-paris flight is not out of the picture.

I could see this working, but as far as international goes, I think Northwest would expand Memphis as a Caribbean/South American gateway (a la Charlotte for US Airways) more than I can see them loading up on the MEM-Europe flights. If anything, we'll probably see MEM-Paris and MEM-Tokyo-Narita as far as transatlantic and transpacific flights go simply because both have been rumored or sought by the airport for quite some time. Paris fits with the Air France connection (plus the fact that we're one of the cities they looked into last fall for new service) and Tokyo because of the Northwest hub there as well as the 787 entering service.