Memphis International Airport

[jmduke]

A grand entrance would be nice, but how about this idea:

On the airside, extend taxiway Mike north across the current Winchester to connect with Rwy. 9-27. Move Airways slightly west and add a 4th north-south parallel runway with a corresponding parallel taxiway. That would allow simultaneous IFR approaches AND takeoffs; i.e. if NWA were to reinstate a 4th bank in the afternoon, FedEx could launch aircraft and NWA could land aircraft more efficiently.

On the landside, eliminate Airways/Plough Boulevard between I-240 and Winchester and replace it with an I-240/I-55 limited access connector that could run between the I-55 rest area, west of the FedEx training facility, and connect with the current Plough with interchanges at Winchester, Brooks, and Democrat to allow for access to existing businesses. The Winchester interchange could be the grand entrance to the airport, hopefully replacing the CBRE-sponsored blue "M" that seems rather dated. It would be a tight fit if one or two new N-S taxiways and/or a new runway were added, but it could be shoehorned in there. An I-240/I-55 connector would also allow easier access to the airport from DeSoto and Tate counties. Also, the connector might be placed far enough west to lengthen 9-27 by 500-800' which would enhance takeoff performance for some FedEx flights.

[memville]

Big news for memphis. Frontier finally comes to memphis with plans to really grow.

[James Owen]

Big news for memphis. Frontier finally comes to memphis with plans to really grow.

Where'd you get that information from?

EDIT: Oh, nevermind. Here it is.

http://memphis.bizjournals.com/memphis/sto...ml?surround=lfn

[AmandaHugginkiss]

Good move by the airport. I wonder how many jobs will be open to the Memphis Community?

[northernbizzkit1]

This is just wild! MEM will be one of the few Frontier cities that starts with more than a DEN non-stop...pretty exciting news. What's even better is that all of these flights are going to be mainline...

MEM-DEN twice daily (A318)

MEM-MCO once daily (A318)

MEM-LAS once daily (A318)

The MEM-LAS should be very popular for it will be a link between Tunica and Memphis...this is really exciting! Makes you wonder if Frontier could be there to take over if Northwest leaves...i know that this is jumping the gun, but it's interesting to see how the airline is starting off with point-to-point options on top of the hub and spoke system from MEM.

[cdarr]

Makes you wonder if Frontier could be there to take over if Northwest leaves...i know that this is jumping the gun, but it's interesting to see how the airline is starting off with point-to-point options on top of the hub and spoke system from MEM.

You think maybe Frontier is lining up to do what Southwest did in Nashville after American pulled out? Could be. I would have thought AirTran would be in position to do that, but Frontier is entering the market in a bigger way.

[northernbizzkit1]

You think maybe Frontier is lining up to do what Southwest did in Nashville after American pulled out? Could be. I would have thought AirTran would be in position to do that, but Frontier is entering the market in a bigger way.

agreed, and in a sense, this is encompassing AirTran and Frontier simply because the two airlines do have a partnership. It's just interesting to see how Frontier immediately is adding P2P destinations from MEM rather than starting with plain service to the Denver hub. I know there have always been studies going on about how the Memphis traffic going to Little Rock and Nashville for Southwest is up there, but I'm sure it's high for Frontier too (which serves both of those cities). It's been a while, but I heard a few rumors about Frontier scoping out a hub city east of the Mississippi, and MEM could be ideal in that Northwest's departure would leave a decent terminal to operate a hub out of.

[cdarr]

agreed, and in a sense, this is encompassing AirTran and Frontier simply because the two airlines do have a partnership. It's just interesting to see how Frontier immediately is adding P2P destinations from MEM rather than starting with plain service to the Denver hub. I know there have always been studies going on about how the Memphis traffic going to Little Rock and Nashville for Southwest is up there, but I'm sure it's high for Frontier too (which serves both of those cities). It's been a while, but I heard a few rumors about Frontier scoping out a hub city east of the Mississippi, and MEM could be ideal in that Northwest's departure would leave a decent terminal to operate a hub out of.

What's cool is that when you look at Frontier's route map with the MEM flights added http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/p...es/route-map.do, you have an almost perfect "flower" of flights radiating out from DEN - except MEM-LAS which cuts abrubtly across the southern half of the network. In fact, the map shows only 4 city-pairs that don't fly in/out Denver...and Memphis has two of them!

[northernbizzkit1]

What's cool is that when you look at Frontier's route map with the MEM flights added http://www.frontierairlines.com/frontier/p...es/route-map.do, you have an almost perfect "flower" of flights radiating out from DEN - except MEM-LAS which cuts abrubtly across the southern half of the network. In fact, the map shows only 4 city-pairs that don't fly in/out Denver...and Memphis has two of them!

yup...this is going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Apparently Northwest waged war on Frontier when they entered Minneapolis...the result was both priced tickets to go below profit/costs, and Frontier left...let's hope Frontier and Northwest can peacefully coexist in Memphis!

[crossroad]

Apparently Northwest waged war on Frontier when they entered Minneapolis...the result was both priced tickets to go below profit/costs, and Frontier left...

Frontier is still in Minneapolis

[northernbizzkit1]

Frontier is still in Minneapolis

my bad...frontier dropped the flight that it was competing with NW on...I think it was MSP-LAX or MSP-LAS

[northernbizzkit1]

Here's my big question...where is gate space for Frontier? obviously it won't be in B...

[memville]

i think that frontier feels like northwest is going to leave the airport, and i have a strong feeling we will become the next hub for them. I wonder if they can add service to europe and possibly asia, but they already have a strong presence in mexico

[northernbizzkit1]

Memphis is getting another addition:

AirTran Beefs Up Memphis Service With Orlando Flight

According to this

the MEM-MCO route is extremely popular, so maybe we can handle the extra capacity with two additional airlines flying the route. The article says "Northwest, the largest carrier by far here, would not comment on Frontier but did say it is currently reviewing new service opportunities from Memphis."...this could be corporate BS from Northwest; however, if there is some depth to it, maybe Northwest will beef up service here...*cough*AirFrance to Paris *cough*...

[tnse]

Memphis is getting another addition:

AirTran Beefs Up Memphis Service With Orlando Flight

According to this

the MEM-MCO route is extremely popular, so maybe we can handle the extra capacity with two additional airlines flying the route. The article says "Northwest, the largest carrier by far here, would not comment on Frontier but did say it is currently reviewing new service opportunities from Memphis."...this could be corporate BS from Northwest; however, if there is some depth to it, maybe Northwest will beef up service here...*cough*AirFrance to Paris *cough*...

Here is the link to the same story on MBJ: AirTran Non-Stop Memphis To Orlando Flight

[Lexy]

maybe Northwest will beef up service here...*cough*AirFrance to Paris *cough*...

Why would you do that though? That route is in no way competition with Frontier, so it would be pointless to do that if the whole idea is to gain, or regain, marketshare on the Frontier routes from MEM on NW.

Frontier could care less if AF flies into MEM. They don't codeshare with Syteam, so it doesn't benefit them one bit.

[northernbizzkit1]

Why would you do that though? That route is in no way competition with Frontier, so it would be pointless to do that if the whole idea is to gain, or regain, marketshare on the Frontier routes from MEM on NW.

Frontier could care less if AF flies into MEM. They don't codeshare with Syteam, so it doesn't benefit them one bit.

I wasn't really saying that as a way for Northwest to compete with Frontier. I was just referencing how AirFrance is in the process of possibly starting service from here to Paris due to Northwest's presence here. However, I do think Frontier would benefit from AirFrance flying to MEM in the way EasyJet and RyanAir benefit in Europe. People get to Europe and want a cheap alternative to travel within the country. Frontier would do this...albeit not on the extreme level as RyanAir and EasyJet

[Lexy]

I wasn't really saying that as a way for Northwest to compete with Frontier. I was just referencing how AirFrance is in the process of possibly starting service from here to Paris due to Northwest's presence here. However, I do think Frontier would benefit from AirFrance flying to MEM in the way EasyJet and RyanAir benefit in Europe. People get to Europe and want a cheap alternative to travel within the country. Frontier would do this...albeit not on the extreme level as RyanAir and EasyJet

That's true but since AF and NW codeshare, I doub't F9 would benefit a great deal from an AF flight if at all.

[northernbizzkit1]

That's true but since AF and NW codeshare, I doub't F9 would benefit a great deal from an AF flight if at all.

I disagree. Northwest and AirFrance codeshare, but when I flew Northwest to London last summer, I didn't fly AirFrance within Europe...I used EasyJet and RyanAir. Many people do this, and this is normally works in the US as well. Many friends of mine who live in Europe and Japan will fly a legacy here and then use Southwest, AirTran, or Frontier to get around within the country when they spend months at a time here.

[AmandaHugginkiss]

As anticipated, competition heats up at Memphis International Airport with NWA proposing more nonstop flights to Las Vegas (2x daily) and Orlando (4x daily) this summer. Capacity will also be increased on the Denver routes. The article stated that the flights to Denver include large aircraft operations. I am guessing 752s will be used for the 3x Denver route. This is going to be interesting, especially, with AirTran entering the mix. Its nice to see this type of activity at MEM. Here is the article:

Memphis Business Journal

[memville]

I love seeing this happening, before northwest could just sit back a relax and due to their monopoly at memphis. I think this will really bring us closer to air france, which seemed to have died down.

[AmandaHugginkiss]

Yeah, NWA did have MEM in somewhat of a "head lock" with the fares. It would be nice to see Air France at MEM. Memphis Grizzlies was selected among 3 other teams to play exhibition games in Europe next season. This is good because Memphis is getting national exposure. Maybe, the demand will increase in the near future.

[cdarr]

Here's something to ponder. The conventional wisdom has always been that LCC growth at MEM puts the NW hub in jeopardy (more competition, NW forced to cut fares to maintain marketshare, hub less profitable). It has been suggested that the airport authority has been "dragging its feet" in getting SWA to come in here for fear that it will send NW packing.

However, NW share of the O&D market is reported to be relatively low for a fortress hub. Given this fact and the small size of the Memphis market to begin with, the case can be made that NW retains the MEM hub largely for factors other than O&D traffic - geography, weather, good partnership with the airport, uncongested, low operating costs, too expensive to move elsewhere and no suitable alternatives without taking on even greater competition.

So...if a disproportionately large share of NW traffic at MEM is connecting, is it possible (somewhat ironically) that NW's weak O&D share might actually make it less sensitive to LCC penetration?

[jmduke]

Big shock here </sarcasm>. NWA responds to competition with Airbuses to DEN, additional flights to SEA and LAS, and a 4th daily flight to MCO. They might make a real hub out of this place yet. Who knows, we might see the return of a 4th bank before too long. The customer is the big winner in all of this.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070219/20070219005420.html

[AmandaHugginkiss]

It has been suggested that the airport authority has been "dragging its feet" in getting SWA to come in here for fear that it will send NW packing.

Really? Here in the Aerospace Department at MTSU the rumor is that it is SWA that is reluctant to enter MEM not the other way around.

However, NW share of the O&D market is reported to be relatively low for a fortress hub. Given this fact and the small size of the Memphis market to begin with, the case can be made that NW retains the MEM hub largely for factors other than O&D traffic - geography, weather, good partnership with the airport, uncongested, low operating costs, too expensive to move elsewhere and no suitable alternatives without taking on even greater competition.

I understand how NWA wanted to utilize MEM. Some of the attributes you previously mentioned enabled MEM to have top on-time flight performance but that doesn't disregard the fact that a lot fares out MEM are ridiculously high.

So...if a disproportionately large share of NW traffic at MEM is connecting, is it possible (somewhat ironically) that NW's weak O&D share might actually make it less sensitive to LCC penetration?

I think MEM could benefit from having a little LCC penetration. Think about the number of people who would not have to drive at 2 hours to get a good deal. Its good to see the competition and service expansions at MEM.