Got word from a very credible and undisclosed source that WN will add 1x daily BDL-BNA starting in early/mid March 2021.

Anyone have any scoop or official article, etc?

This has been discussed in the WN thread.

Why did WN ever discontinue their BNA-NE routes in the first place? IIRC they once did BNA-MHT/BDL/PVD. Not sure if they ever did ISP, but they never did BNA-ALB/BUF back then. I think BUF may have seasonal service now.

Just a reminder that when there is no official source or news release, "unconfirmed" or "rumor" is required to be included in the title. If/when the news becomes official, users can report the thread to bring the existence of a source to our attention, and we can change the title to reflect the status.

✈️ atcsundevil

USAirALB wrote:

Why did WN ever discontinue their BNA-NE routes in the first place? IIRC they once did BNA-MHT/BDL/PVD. Not sure if they ever did ISP, but they never did BNA-ALB/BUF back then. I think BUF may have seasonal service now.

They did ISP/MHT/BDL/PVD in the early to mid 2000s. They were replaced with BOS and LGA.

UPDATE: WN has announced resumption of BDL-BNA nonstop service starting in March 2021 according to the list of routes at https://wieck-swa-production.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/page-3b00a21770a21c5c30a52599d18aed48/attachment/e128c2dda32957201362eeafb576fd1e676a5a45 which was linked from https://www.swamedia.com/releases/release-3b00a21770a21c5c30a52599d19002a2-southwest-airlines-announces-new-service-to-miami-palm-springs-and-montrose-telluride-colorado-with-one-way-fares-as-low-as-39.

Here are some links to news releases regarding the resumption of BDL-BNA on the Nashville Post, Nashville Business Journal, and Hartford Courant web sites:

• https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/transportation/aviation/article/21143925/southwest-to-connect-nashville-hartford
• https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/10/15/bna-hartford.html
• https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-bradley-airport-nashville-southwest-20201008-6heqx2iwejbrbosm34lwwj7xyu-story.html

good news, but remember all planning is praying that demand comes back. The airlines were super optimistic for summer and then fall before too.

With more gates in BNA, and assuming a rebound in demand, WN could continue to solidify their position in BNA with further expansion to the NE by restarting ISP/MHT/PVD and adding BUF & ALB.

Boiler905 wrote:

With more gates in BNA, and assuming a rebound in demand, WN could continue to solidify their position in BNA with further expansion to the NE by restarting ISP/MHT/PVD and adding BUF & ALB.

WN could continue to solidify their position at BNA by, when things recover, making it a base and helping to fund the construction of additional gates so they can grow to BWI levels. BNA should eventually crack the top 5 in WN stations.

The title has been updated to confirm the information. As mentioned in my previous post, please report the thread starting post to request a title update.

✈️ atcsundevil

Congratulations to Southwest and to the folks at BDL, all of whom will benefit from this restored service. Inaugurating and/or restoring service at BNA is good, too . . . especially if that eventually includes CVG-BNA service. I can remember when the Delta & Comair flights between CVG & BNA were nearly always full.

SkyVoice wrote:

Congratulations to Southwest and to the folks at BDL, all of whom will benefit from this restored service. Inaugurating and/or restoring service at BNA is good, too . . . especially if that eventually includes CVG-BNA service. I can remember when the Delta & Comair flights between CVG & BNA were nearly always full.

The PDEW's on CVG-BNA has been less than 20 passengers per day during the last 14 years, even prior to the DL-NW merger.

A significant amount of passengers on Comair's CVG-BNA nonstop flights were making connections to other places through CVG, and DL was also offering connections through CVG to some destinations that did not have any nonstop service out of BNA on DL, WN, or other airlines back when Comair operated CVG-BNA nonstop service.

There are also many routes out of BNA with 2019 PDEW's significantly higher than that of BNA-CVG that WN doesn't currently serve nonstop from BNA such as BNA-ALB/ABQ/BOI/BUF/DSM/ELP/GRR/GSP/MHT/ONT/PDX/PWM/PVD/RNO/RIC/ROC/SMF/SFO/SEA/GEG/TUS/TUL/IAD/PBI/ICT.

jplatts wrote:

SkyVoice wrote:

Congratulations to Southwest and to the folks at BDL, all of whom will benefit from this restored service. Inaugurating and/or restoring service at BNA is good, too . . . especially if that eventually includes CVG-BNA service. I can remember when the Delta & Comair flights between CVG & BNA were nearly always full.

The PDEW's on CVG-BNA has been less than 20 passengers per day during the last 14 years, even prior to the DL-NW merger.

There are also many routes out of BNA with 2019 PDEW's significantly higher than that of BNA-CVG that WN doesn't currently serve nonstop from BNA such as BNA-ALB/ABQ/BOI/BUF/DSM/ELP/GRR/GSP/MHT/ONT/PDX/PWM/PVD/RNO/RIC/ROC/SMF/SFO/SEA/GEG/TUS/TUL/IAD/PBI/ICT.

While I agree that CVG would be a tough sell for WN in BNA, I doubt DL was trying to sell reasonable prices to the local BNA-CVG market. CVG is a 4ish hour drive from BNA which is similar to other SH routes in WN's network (eg Intra-TX, BNA-ATL/STL). With more effective pricing on the local market, WN could expand to these closer markets like CVG/IND/LIT/TUL and potentially create new markets.

Boiler905 wrote:

jplatts wrote:

SkyVoice wrote:

Congratulations to Southwest and to the folks at BDL, all of whom will benefit from this restored service. Inaugurating and/or restoring service at BNA is good, too . . . especially if that eventually includes CVG-BNA service. I can remember when the Delta & Comair flights between CVG & BNA were nearly always full.

The PDEW's on CVG-BNA has been less than 20 passengers per day during the last 14 years, even prior to the DL-NW merger.

There are also many routes out of BNA with 2019 PDEW's significantly higher than that of BNA-CVG that WN doesn't currently serve nonstop from BNA such as BNA-ALB/ABQ/BOI/BUF/DSM/ELP/GRR/GSP/MHT/ONT/PDX/PWM/PVD/RNO/RIC/ROC/SMF/SFO/SEA/GEG/TUS/TUL/IAD/PBI/ICT.

While I agree that CVG would be a tough sell for WN in BNA, I doubt DL was trying to sell reasonable prices to the local BNA-CVG market. CVG is a 4ish hour drive from BNA which is similar to other SH routes in WN's network (eg Intra-TX, BNA-ATL/STL). With more effective pricing on the local market, WN could expand to these closer markets like CVG/IND/LIT/TUL and potentially create new markets.

I flew CVG-BNA semi-regularly when DL flew it. I don't think I ever paid less than $500 o/w.

Cubsrule wrote:

I flew CVG-BNA semi-regularly when DL flew it. I don't think I ever paid less than $500 o/w.

I do not doubt that for one minute! I myself flew the route round trip on DL one time. The fare was $295, but that was an advance-purchase fare. If you paid the walk-up fare back then, you definitely paid big bucks!