Welcome to the Nashville Aviation thread - 2023 edition.

Please continue to post your news and discussions below.

Link to the 2022 edition:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1468549

Happy New Year!

It’s gonna be an interesting year for BNA. The Terminal Lobby/IAB and the Satellite will open, bring much needed additional gates and a proper FIS facility.

What new service do you expect?

Runway765 wrote:

Happy New Year!

It’s gonna be an interesting year for BNA. The Terminal Lobby/IAB and the Satellite will open, bring much needed additional gates and a proper FIS facility.

What new service do you expect?

Not to be a "Wish Pig" but CVG, PDX and continuation of IND, CUN and SJU.

SimpleMan wrote:

Runway765 wrote:

Happy New Year!

It’s gonna be an interesting year for BNA. The Terminal Lobby/IAB and the Satellite will open, bring much needed additional gates and a proper FIS facility.

What new service do you expect?

Not to be a "Wish Pig" but CVG, PDX and continuation of IND, CUN and SJU.

"Unless WN picks up CVG and IND(connecting traffic via BNA)...not going to happen until short haul flying point-to-point make$ sen$e again. Curious if anyone thinks recent WN meltdown has any impact on WN operations/plans for BNA in 2023/2024? Any chance that WN takes gates in the satellite? Seems that would make sense for WN to use for those flights that are more connection oriented (vs O&D oriented).?

Perhaps another TATL Flight announcement when the new IAB opens?

Bluegrass60 wrote:

"Unless WN picks up CVG and IND(connecting traffic via BNA)...not going to happen until short haul flying point-to-point make$ sen$e again. Curious if anyone thinks recent WN meltdown has any impact on WN operations/plans for BNA in 2023/2024? Any chance that WN takes gates in the satellite? Seems that would make sense for WN to use for those flights that are more connection oriented (vs O&D oriented).?

The O&D PDEW of BNA-CVG has never exceeded 20 passengers/day in the last 15 years, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-IND has never exceeded 12 passengers/day in the last 15 years.

BNA-ATL is the only route shorter than BNA-CVG that has WN nonstop service out of BNA, but BNA-ATL has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. BNA-ATL is also a hub-to-hub nonstop route for WN. The O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL on WN was 72 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL was 234 passengers/day in Q2 2022.

BNA-STL is the 2nd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-STL was 100 passengers/day in Q2 2022. BNA-STL is longer than BNA-CVG/IND, and WN is also connecting some passengers to destinations such as DSM/OKC/OMA/TUL/ICT from BNA through STL.

BNA-CLT is the 3rd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, but BNA-CLT has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. The O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT on WN was 66 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT was 323 passengers/day in Q2 2022. The great circle distance of BNA-CLT is 328 miles, but BNA-CLT O&D demand is stronger due to the longer driving distance between Nashville and Charlotte. The driving distance to Downtown Charlotte is 410 miles from Downtown Nashville, and Downtown Charlotte is approximately a 6 1/2 hour drive from Downtown Nashville.

There are a few WN nonstop routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO that have very little O&D traffic and are operated primarily for connections. The WN routes out of BNA that currently have daily nonstop service have more O&D traffic than routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO.

There are also bigger holes at BNA than the lack of BNA-CVG/IND nonstop service.

Runway765 wrote:

Happy New Year!

It’s gonna be an interesting year for BNA. The Terminal Lobby/IAB and the Satellite will open, bring much needed additional gates and a proper FIS facility.

What new service do you expect?

I am impressed with how quickly the satellite terminal has taken shape. I saw a picture of it this morning. Is there an anticipated opening date yet?

TYSflyer wrote:

Runway765 wrote:

Happy New Year!

It’s gonna be an interesting year for BNA. The Terminal Lobby/IAB and the Satellite will open, bring much needed additional gates and a proper FIS facility.

What new service do you expect?

I am impressed with how quickly the satellite terminal has taken shape. I saw a picture of it this morning. Is there an anticipated opening date yet?

Fall of this year for both the satellite and the IAB gates.

jplatts wrote:

Bluegrass60 wrote:

"Unless WN picks up CVG and IND(connecting traffic via BNA)...not going to happen until short haul flying point-to-point make$ sen$e again. Curious if anyone thinks recent WN meltdown has any impact on WN operations/plans for BNA in 2023/2024? Any chance that WN takes gates in the satellite? Seems that would make sense for WN to use for those flights that are more connection oriented (vs O&D oriented).?

The O&D PDEW of BNA-CVG has never exceeded 20 passengers/day in the last 15 years, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-IND has never exceeded 12 passengers/day in the last 15 years.

BNA-ATL is the only route shorter than BNA-CVG that has WN nonstop service out of BNA, but BNA-ATL has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. BNA-ATL is also a hub-to-hub nonstop route for WN. The O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL on WN was 72 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL was 234 passengers/day in Q2 2022.

BNA-STL is the 2nd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-STL was 100 passengers/day in Q2 2022. BNA-STL is longer than BNA-CVG/IND, and WN is also connecting some passengers to destinations such as DSM/OKC/OMA/TUL/ICT from BNA through STL.

BNA-CLT is the 3rd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, but BNA-CLT has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. The O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT on WN was 66 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT was 323 passengers/day in Q2 2022. The great circle distance of BNA-CLT is 328 miles, but BNA-CLT O&D demand is stronger due to the longer driving distance between Nashville and Charlotte. The driving distance to Downtown Charlotte is 410 miles from Downtown Nashville, and Downtown Charlotte is approximately a 6 1/2 hour drive from Downtown Nashville.

There are a few WN nonstop routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO that have very little O&D traffic and are operated primarily for connections. The WN routes out of BNA that currently have daily nonstop service have more O&D traffic than routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO.

There are also bigger holes at BNA than the lack of BNA-CVG/IND nonstop service.

Thank you for your data and analysis. I was just assuming that the daily PDEW between the two (2) cities, IND & CVG would be larger if just for the size of the cities and VFR.

jplatts wrote:

Bluegrass60 wrote:

"Unless WN picks up CVG and IND(connecting traffic via BNA)...not going to happen until short haul flying point-to-point make$ sen$e again. Curious if anyone thinks recent WN meltdown has any impact on WN operations/plans for BNA in 2023/2024? Any chance that WN takes gates in the satellite? Seems that would make sense for WN to use for those flights that are more connection oriented (vs O&D oriented).?

The O&D PDEW of BNA-CVG has never exceeded 20 passengers/day in the last 15 years, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-IND has never exceeded 12 passengers/day in the last 15 years.

BNA-ATL is the only route shorter than BNA-CVG that has WN nonstop service out of BNA, but BNA-ATL has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. BNA-ATL is also a hub-to-hub nonstop route for WN. The O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL on WN was 72 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-ATL was 234 passengers/day in Q2 2022.

BNA-STL is the 2nd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, and the O&D PDEW of BNA-STL was 100 passengers/day in Q2 2022. BNA-STL is longer than BNA-CVG/IND, and WN is also connecting some passengers to destinations such as DSM/OKC/OMA/TUL/ICT from BNA through STL.

BNA-CLT is the 3rd shortest route out of BNA that is served nonstop by WN, but BNA-CLT has significantly more O&D demand than BNA-CVG does. The O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT on WN was 66 passengers/day in Q2 2022, and the total O&D PDEW of BNA-CLT was 323 passengers/day in Q2 2022. The great circle distance of BNA-CLT is 328 miles, but BNA-CLT O&D demand is stronger due to the longer driving distance between Nashville and Charlotte. The driving distance to Downtown Charlotte is 410 miles from Downtown Nashville, and Downtown Charlotte is approximately a 6 1/2 hour drive from Downtown Nashville.

There are a few WN nonstop routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO that have very little O&D traffic and are operated primarily for connections. The WN routes out of BNA that currently have daily nonstop service have more O&D traffic than routes such as ATL-GSP, MDW-GRR, COS-DEN, and RSW-MCO.

There are also bigger holes at BNA than the lack of BNA-CVG/IND nonstop service.

And yet, CVG-BNA was one of Comair’s top 10 most profitable runs pre-CRJ, supporting 6-10 EMB-120’s a day at times, and before BNA’s economy took off…

SimpleMan wrote:

Thank you for your data and analysis. I was just assuming that the daily PDEW between the two (2) cities, IND & CVG would be larger if just for the size of the cities and VFR.

Indianapolis and Cincinnati aren't really that large of cities and, more importantly, don't have a ton of business ties to Nashville. Unlike Atlanta, which serves as a regional finance and consulting hub and generates much more business travel, including day trips.

VFR aren't going to pay hundreds of dollars to fly from BNA just to IND or CVG; they're going to make the relatively easy 4ish-hour drive instead. The economics of these super-short air routes don't work anymore and I highly doubt WN or anyone is going to start service to either destination anytime soon.

FlyingElvii wrote:

And yet, CVG-BNA was one of Comair’s top 10 most profitable runs pre-CRJ, supporting 6-10 EMB-120’s a day at times, and before BNA’s economy took off…

And yet, how much of that profit derived from BNA customers making connections in CVG on flights and to cities that DL no longer serves? As DL continues to grow ATL into a megahub, they have seemingly decided that it makes more financial sense to route connections through there on 737-900s every 90 minutes or so than to also be routing connections through CVG just up the road, relatively speaking.

UALFAson wrote:

SimpleMan wrote:

Thank you for your data and analysis. I was just assuming that the daily PDEW between the two (2) cities, IND & CVG would be larger if just for the size of the cities and VFR.

Indianapolis and Cincinnati aren't really that large of cities and, more importantly, don't have a ton of business ties to Nashville. Unlike Atlanta, which serves as a regional finance and consulting hub and generates much more business travel, including day trips.

VFR aren't going to pay hundreds of dollars to fly from BNA just to IND or CVG; they're going to make the relatively easy 4ish-hour drive instead. The economics of these super-short air routes don't work anymore and I highly doubt WN or anyone is going to start service to either destination anytime soon.

FlyingElvii wrote:

And yet, CVG-BNA was one of Comair’s top 10 most profitable runs pre-CRJ, supporting 6-10 EMB-120’s a day at times, and before BNA’s economy took off…

And yet, how much of that profit derived from BNA customers making connections in CVG on flights and to cities that DL no longer serves? As DL continues to grow ATL into a megahub, they have seemingly decided that it makes more financial sense to route connections through there on 737-900s every 90 minutes or so than to also be routing connections through CVG just up the road, relatively speaking.

CVG is no longer a DL Hub or DL Focus city...thus no more 6-10 daily CRJ's. ATL is a megahub for DL and has lots of loyal customers in Nashville....most of the DL traffic is connecting. I suspect most of the WN traffic is also connecting. ATL-BNA is 4 hours or less drivetime. Similar to CVG and IND. For perspective IND-ORD is similar drive and majority of traffic is connecting. WN flies 1x to MDW from Indy..and that is connecting traffic driven

The WN city fact sheet for BNA now has it near 150 flights per day here.

https://wieck-swa-production.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/media_storage/city_fact_sheets/BNA.pdf?response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%22BNA.pdf%22%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27BNA.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20230114T193155Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA36STRBJMTWHFKMHF%2F20230114%2Fus-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=ac79415f99e1eab0457e534efe370c4fc80d5cab03874b92dd02807cc2e7a7b4

They will pick up another 4 gates when the satellite and IAB open later this year. Wouldn’t be surprised if they got up to 175-200 by summer 2024

I’m cautiously optimistic another TATL flight will be announced at the IAB opening this year.

UALFAson wrote:

FlyingElvii wrote:

And yet, CVG-BNA was one of Comair’s top 10 most profitable runs pre-CRJ, supporting 6-10 EMB-120’s a day at times, and before BNA’s economy took off…

And yet, how much of that profit derived from BNA customers making connections in CVG on flights and to cities that DL no longer serves? As DL continues to grow ATL into a megahub, they have seemingly decided that it makes more financial sense to route connections through there on 737-900s every 90 minutes or so than to also be routing connections through CVG just up the road, relatively speaking.

Entirely correct, and another important point is that the drive from Nashville to Cincinnati is much easier than it used to be thanks to the widening of 65 in Kentucky and a speed limit of 70 just about the whole way.

Nashville to Cincy is about a 4 hour drive according to Google Maps. If you were to be flying from Nashville to Cincinnati, you'd maybe save 1-1.5 hours of total travel time when all is said and done. So really not worth it without connections on one end or the other.

DL ran CVG-BNA but till 2018 (I believe) and eventually cut it because of the above reasons.

N292UX wrote:

Nashville to Cincy is about a 4 hour drive according to Google Maps. If you were to be flying from Nashville to Cincinnati, you'd maybe save 1-1.5 hours of total travel time when all is said and done. So really not worth it without connections on one end or the other.

DL ran CVG-BNA but till 2018 (I believe) and eventually cut it because of the above reasons.

Economically these short thin(ish) routes dont work anymore, and whoever would consider it, could get better utilization out of that plane anyways. Plus I’m not sure if there is a high yield pax group that could even attract someone like Contour or JSX.

N292UX wrote:

DL ran CVG-BNA but till 2018 (I believe) and eventually cut it because of the above reasons.

At the end, it was running pretty much exclusively to get OO aircraft in and out of maintenance at BNA. BNA's market strength saved it in the sense that BNA didn't have a lot of other OO DL Connection service.

Cubsrule wrote:

N292UX wrote:

DL ran CVG-BNA but till 2018 (I believe) and eventually cut it because of the above reasons.

At the end, it was running pretty much exclusively to get OO aircraft in and out of maintenance at BNA. BNA's market strength saved it in the sense that BNA didn't have a lot of other OO DL Connection service.

I remember the fares were stupidly priced on that route too.

N292UX wrote:

Nashville to Cincy is about a 4 hour drive according to Google Maps. If you were to be flying from Nashville to Cincinnati, you'd maybe save 1-1.5 hours of total travel time when all is said and done. So really not worth it without connections on one end or the other.

DL ran CVG-BNA but till 2018 (I believe) and eventually cut it because of the above reasons.

Agree that shorthaul wiithout cx on either end are not likely to return.

Contrast to similar drive time route: BNA-ATL. WN connections on both ends; DL connections in ATL. I don't think this route would operate otherwise...certainly not with the frequencies it currently enjoys

Speaking of connecting traffic...WN connects 32.9% of its traffic at BNA. Without that connecting flow....WN flights would operate with LF of 54.6%.

Here is the source of that info: https://www.aviationplanning.com/monday-january-2-2023/

Bluegrass60 wrote:

Speaking of connecting traffic...WN connects 32.9% of its traffic at BNA. Without that connecting flow....WN flights would operate with LF of 54.6%.

Here is the source of that info: https://www.aviationplanning.com/monday-january-2-2023/

Thank you for posting that article. I hate when the media continues to misrepresent how Southwest runs their business.

Delta has loaded in the one off flights to Key West in May for Key West Song Writers Festival. Flights being operated by Airbus A319... Last year it was operated E-175 IIRC.

Wednesday May 3rd:
DL 517 BNA-EYW 11 AM CST--> 2:10 PM EST

Sunday May 7th:
DL 327 EYW- BNA 1 PM EST --> 2:15 PM CST

Grand Lobby at BNA -
https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/ ... 820211007/

BNA had a total of 20,045,685 passengers fly in or out during calendar year 2022. BNA flew 15,516,601 passengers in 2021. That represents a 29% relative increase and an absolute increase of 4,529,084 passengers.

HeyHey wrote:

BNA had a total of 20,045,685 passengers fly in or out during calendar year 2022. BNA flew 15,516,601 passengers in 2021. That represents a 29% relative increase and an absolute increase of 4,529,084 passengers.

Wow! Impressive numbers! Is that an all time record number of passengers?

HeyHey wrote:

BNA had a total of 20,045,685 passengers fly in or out during calendar year 2022. BNA flew 15,516,601 passengers in 2021. That represents a 29% relative increase and an absolute increase of 4,529,084 passengers.

And with that, BNA has now officially graduated out of the medium sized hub category and into the large hub one.

More photos of the lobby courtesy of the Business Journal here: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/01/20/nashville-international-airport-grand-lobby-photos.html

I can’t wait to see in person in just over a week! The hanging art installation, live murals, and electronic screens all look incredible.

Bluegrass60 wrote:

Speaking of connecting traffic...WN connects 32.9% of its traffic at BNA. Without that connecting flow....WN flights would operate with LF of 54.6%.

Here is the source of that info: https://www.aviationplanning.com/monday-january-2-2023/

This is awesome, very informative. If you look at Southwest’s network, many of their routes seem a little funky, especially with their semi-high capacity 737s. This shows exactly how and why SWA enjoys healthy loads.

bnabnabna wrote:

More photos of the lobby courtesy of the Business Journal here: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2023/01/20/nashville-international-airport-grand-lobby-photos.html

I can’t wait to see in person in just over a week! The hanging art installation, live murals, and electronic screens all look incredible.

Not looking forward to those new security bag scanners. They have those in ATL and I hate them. Passengers don't know how to use them or how to separate their stuff or that it's okay to cut in front of people when you're the 4some putting your stuff in trays. TSA winds up yelling at people, although they don't seem to know how to use them either because I have been told different stories about what to separate and how to place things in the bins. I also don't like how you get separated from your things for so long.

I'm flying out on the 31st. Definitely going to give myself extra time.

I got to see the new centralized TSA checkpoint as I was leaving the airport tonight. The jumbotrons on each side of the checkpoint are really cool as well as the really high ceilings. I also walked the connector. Looks like I will finally get to try Pharmacy Burger that should open in the A/B food court tomorrow. I'm sure there will be some hiccups for the next couple of days but it does look really nice.

The photos from Twitter look amazing! I can’t wait to check it out next time BA223 takes me home!

Local News Station story on the lobby, which includes an interview with BNA CEO
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/on-th ... -travelers

"We have 95 nonstops," said Kreulen. "Our new goal is 135. In September when we open our new international arrivals facility, we'll go from one international gate to six. So we're really hoping to get a second nonstop service to Europe, probably somewhere in Central Europe, and then eventually into Asia."

So that sounds like Frankfurt on Eurowings Discover if he's to be taken at face value? Amsterdam certainly isn't central Europe.

dfdubflyer wrote:

"We have 95 nonstops," said Kreulen. "Our new goal is 135. In September when we open our new international arrivals facility, we'll go from one international gate to six. So we're really hoping to get a second nonstop service to Europe, probably somewhere in Central Europe, and then eventually into Asia."

So that sounds like Frankfurt on Eurowings Discover if he's to be taken at face value? Amsterdam certainly isn't central Europe.

If I had to guess, it would be either Paris on DL (in the works before COVID), maybe AMS. People on a.net were talking about a possible LH/EW Discover route to FRA but who knows.

Personally I feel like DL to CDG on like a 763 would be a great place to start. Plenty of connections through AF.

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Think of what dots on the map are missing… A couple off the top of my head are Palm Beach and Westchester County. Interested to hear what other 38 dots on the map they want to add.

1. PBI (southwest would likely be all over this one)
2. HPN

gsg013 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Think of what dots on the map are missing… A couple off the top of my head are Palm Beach and Westchester County. Interested to hear what other 38 dots on the map they want to add.

1. PBI (southwest would likely be all over this one)
2. HPN

ABQ, PDX, IND, LIT to name a couple.

gsg013 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Think of what dots on the map are missing… A couple off the top of my head are Palm Beach and Westchester County. Interested to hear what other 38 dots on the map they want to add.

1. PBI (southwest would likely be all over this one)

I agree that WN re-adding BNA-PBI nonstop service is a possibility as WN was getting decent load factors on BNA-PBI nonstop service in Spring 2021 with the load factor of WN BNA-PBI being 78.18% in Spring 2021 (and that was during the COVID-19 pandemic).

It is also currently a pain to connect to PBI on WN from markets outside of the Northeast, and the resumption of WN BNA-PBI nonstop service would improve connectivity to PBI from the Midwest on WN. In addition, a few of the Midwest markets that currently have WN nonstop service to BNA such as MCI, MKE, and STL/BLV don't currently have any nonstop service to PBI.

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

WN already has a hub in all but name only here. They will be picking up 4 additional gates when the satellite and IAB opens in the fall, bringing them to 20. I could see them getting to 165-175 flights by summer 2024.

Runway765 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

WN already has a hub in all but name only here. They will be picking up 4 additional gates when the satellite and IAB opens in the fall, bringing them to 20. I could see them getting to 165-175 flights by summer 2024.

Oh I could totally see them ramping up flight numbers like that or higher, my question was more regarding where all these desired locations are. I can think of maybe 10-12 domestic locations WN could realistically pick up if they have the gates and aircraft, but that still leaves a lot. Hopefully they add a bunch of Caribbean and Central American destinations eventually. We’re geographically placed to be a good connecting point sending northeastern and midwestern travelers to Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America if WN so desired to use BNA that way.

pdt2f wrote:

Runway765 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

WN already has a hub in all but name only here. They will be picking up 4 additional gates when the satellite and IAB opens in the fall, bringing them to 20. I could see them getting to 165-175 flights by summer 2024.

Oh I could totally see them ramping up flight numbers like that or higher, my question was more regarding where all these desired locations are. I can think of maybe 10-12 domestic locations WN could realistically pick up if they have the gates and aircraft, but that still leaves a lot. Hopefully they add a bunch of Caribbean and Central American destinations eventually. We’re geographically placed to be a good connecting point sending northeastern and midwestern travelers to Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America if WN so desired to use BNA that way.

Allegiant will find a way to pump those numbers up lol

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Shhh, the secret is AA pulling an AUS situation.

reednavy wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Shhh, the secret is AA pulling an AUS situation.

It's likely hearsay, but AA employees I know at BNA says an AUS esque operation is coming. How likely will it happen? Maybe just as much as UA's planned southeast BNA megahub I know it's been metioned numerous times on the BNA thread, but I think this airport could use a little expansion from a legacy carrier. Not everyone wants to fly WN.

gsg013 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Think of what dots on the map are missing… A couple off the top of my head are Palm Beach and Westchester County. Interested to hear what other 38 dots on the map they want to add.

1. PBI (southwest would likely be all over this one)
2. HPN

1) BZN: BNA makes sense as a flow point for traffic from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic to get up to Yellowstone.
2) GSP: I still don't entirely get why WN keeps ATL-GSP going, unless they think the traffic flows to Florida really are that much better. I think they'd pick up more O&D at the cost of a marginally longer stage length (offset by a much less congested BNA).
3) PVD: For Northeast-Southeast flow traffic as an alternative to BWI. WN doesn't fly PVD-ATL.
4) BUF: Ditto. ROC/ALB/SYR would also make sense in that vein, but BUF's the biggest and closest to BNA. WN doesn't fly BUF-ATL.
5) TUL: Makes sense as a spoke. Notable that WN doesn't have any TUL-Southeast (non-Texas) flights at all, even Florida.
6) GRR: GRR-BNA would make sense as a year round flow point for Southeast traffic. Not served from Atlanta.
7) DSM: Ditto GRR.

As far as a sort of out of the box international route not on WN: Copa to PTY? BNA's kind of a similar market to MSY and they fly that.

GSP psgr wrote:

gsg013 wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Think of what dots on the map are missing… A couple off the top of my head are Palm Beach and Westchester County. Interested to hear what other 38 dots on the map they want to add.

1. PBI (southwest would likely be all over this one)
2. HPN

1) BZN: BNA makes sense as a flow point for traffic from the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic to get up to Yellowstone.
2) GSP: I still don't entirely get why WN keeps ATL-GSP going, unless they think the traffic flows to Florida really are that much better. I think they'd pick up more O&D at the cost of a marginally longer stage length (offset by a much less congested BNA).
3) PVD: For Northeast-Southeast flow traffic as an alternative to BWI. WN doesn't fly PVD-ATL.
4) BUF: Ditto. ROC/ALB/SYR would also make sense in that vein, but BUF's the biggest and closest to BNA. WN doesn't fly BUF-ATL.
5) TUL: Makes sense as a spoke. Notable that WN doesn't have any TUL-Southeast (non-Texas) flights at all, even Florida.
6) GRR: GRR-BNA would make sense as a year round flow point for Southeast traffic. Not served from Atlanta.
7) DSM: Ditto GRR.

As far as a sort of out of the box international route not on WN: Copa to PTY? BNA's kind of a similar market to MSY and they fly that.

I don’t believe PTY to MSY has started yet and keeps getting delayed. I believe it’s mainly for the large Latin American communities in New Orleans. I have no idea why it keeps being delayed and I’m not sure it will work for us at BNA just yet.

https://destinationsguide.copaair.com/e ... stinations

I would not be surprised to see some Mexican/Latin carrier set up shop at BNA. Nashville-Metro has a 10% Latin Population and certainly plenty in the outside cities. Additionally, lot of business connections between Mexico/Nashville.

DakotaFlyer wrote:

I would not be surprised to see some Mexican/Latin carrier set up shop at BNA. Nashville-Metro has a 10% Latin Population and certainly plenty in the outside cities. Additionally, lot of business connections between Mexico/Nashville.

Maybe someone like Volaris could make it work.

pdt2f wrote:

We’re geographically placed to be a good connecting point sending northeastern and midwestern travelers to Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America if WN so desired to use BNA that way.

IMHO BNA should be an eastern DEN for WN, though not quite as big.

southwest1675 wrote:

reednavy wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Shhh, the secret is AA pulling an AUS situation.

It's likely hearsay, but AA employees I know at BNA says an AUS esque operation is coming. How likely will it happen? Maybe just as much as UA's planned southeast BNA megahub I know it's been metioned numerous times on the BNA thread, but I think this airport could use a little expansion from a legacy carrier. Not everyone wants to fly WN.

Would be surprised if that happened in the near term. AA would probably want a new bigger Admirals Club first, the current one is subpar.

southwest1675 wrote:

reednavy wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

I’m fascinated about what 40 destinations could be added to get to 135, without us becoming a hub. It would take quite the WN expansion to get to that point.

Shhh, the secret is AA pulling an AUS situation.

It's likely hearsay, but AA employees I know at BNA says an AUS esque operation is coming. How likely will it happen? Maybe just as much as UA's planned southeast BNA megahub I know it's been metioned numerous times on the BNA thread, but I think this airport could use a little expansion from a legacy carrier. Not everyone wants to fly WN.

AUS has no hub. It has more O&D than BNA. (22M vs 14M). AA, WN, DL have sizeable ops at AUS. BNA is a "hub" for WN. UA has no plans for a SE Hub ..and if they did would not select BNA. (Why take on WN with a SE operation that UA hardly needs). DL decided to not move forward with focus city at BNA. AA might expand some more but it is not going to add 40 destinations. WN is BNAs hub carrier and it is more legacy than LCC these days. BNA has tremendous service and am sure it will keep growing as Middle TN keeps growing. 40 more destinations?? Not sure where they will be or who will fly them but suspect WN will fly the majority