Just announced starting March 31, BA will be a daily flight.

“Nashville is the fastest new route to move to a daily service in 10 years“

May have mentioned this before, but I’m a Nashville native, for 10 years a DFW resident, and as of last week a London resident. Consequently I’ve been tracking lots of flights throughout 19 for myself to go home, and friends/family to come visit me. The BNA-LHR nonstop has been consistently higher than most major US gateways. Even in the dead of winter the advanced purchase in economy was knocking on a grand. Very happy for BNA’s and BA’s successs!

Jshank83 wrote:

BA goes daily next summer.

http://mediacentre.britishairways.com/p ... 3?ref=Home

"The addition of two extra weekly services means Nashville is British Airways fastest new route to move to a daily service in 10 years."

My personal experience is that not only is Y high during most dates, but J is often unavailable or way too high compared to connecting options (BA or otherwise).

With this success, I thought we would see WW or FI, but given their financial issues I am not sure that is a reasonable expectation in the short term.

Hopefully we will see KL/DL to AMS or AF/DL to CDG - that will make me happy, but if we follow other market development paths given our leisure-weighted travel, I think we might see DE next. DE seems to have announced their plans for S19. Also, not sure that BNA has customs space for an European-timed flight until the new customs facility and gates are completed in 2020-21.

bnatraveler wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

Hopefully we will see KL/DL to AMS or AF/DL to CDG - that will make me happy, but if we follow other market development paths given our leisure-weighted travel, I think we might see DE next. DE seems to have announced their plans for S19. Also, not sure that BNA has customs space for an European-timed flight until the new customs facility and gates are completed in 2020-21.

I think you'll see DL on one of the city pairs at some point in the future. As for DE, that's also a real possibility too. One or the other I'd say.

Lexy wrote:

bnatraveler wrote:

Jshank83 wrote:

Hopefully we will see KL/DL to AMS or AF/DL to CDG - that will make me happy, but if we follow other market development paths given our leisure-weighted travel, I think we might see DE next. DE seems to have announced their plans for S19. Also, not sure that BNA has customs space for an European-timed flight until the new customs facility and gates are completed in 2020-21.

I think you'll see DL on one of the city pairs at some point in the future. As for DE, that's also a real possibility too. One or the other I'd say.

I still think BNA will get one of the Iceland carriers. FI hopefully. Until the permanent FIS is open, it'll be interesting juggling TATL routes in the temporary facility on A.

EvanWSFO wrote:

Lexy wrote:

bnatraveler wrote:

I think you'll see DL on one of the city pairs at some point in the future. As for DE, that's also a real possibility too. One or the other I'd say.

I still think BNA will get one of the Iceland carriers. FI hopefully. Until the permanent FIS is open, it'll be interesting juggling TATL routes in the temporary facility on A.

Another international flight could probably work with current facilities. They did add another gate to the IAB for a reason I assume. Regardless, the fact that BA made this service daily so quickly, will definitely court other carriers to give BNA a try.

Good for BNA. I think BA could upgauge to a four class aircraft in the future as well, perhaps a 789 or a 772. The only issue is BNA doesn't seem to have proper widebody gates, so anything bigger than a Boeing 787 would be difficult to gate.

I’m curious what’s happening downstairs at BNA. They’re renovating/adding offices near WN’s ramp

southwest1675 wrote:

I’m curious what’s happening downstairs at BNA. They’re renovating/adding offices near WN’s ramp

On C Concourse? Those are for the TSA. They have to move them out of D so that it can be expanded.

Lexy wrote:

southwest1675 wrote:

I’m curious what’s happening downstairs at BNA. They’re renovating/adding offices near WN’s ramp

On C Concourse? Those are for the TSA. They have to move them out of D so that it can be expanded.

Ah that makes sense. I forgot that TSA was housed in D.

Midwestindy wrote:

AA BNA-LAX JAN 2>1.3[1.2] MAR 2>3[2.0] APR 2>3[2.0] MAY 2>3[2] JUN 2>3[2] JUL 2>3[2]

AA's going 3x daily on BNA-LAX, that route is exploding right now

Actually, they already have. I am flying LAX-BNA on Sunday, Oct. 28, and when I booked my flight a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised to see AA added a third nonstop. There's now a noon-ish departure eastbound (which I'm taking) in addition to the 9 a.m.-ish and the red-eye. This flight works much better for connections at LAX (like me from SFO).

Holy WOW at the parking situation right now....I live downtown, and typically Uber/Lyft to the airport, but tried to drive and park for a quick day trip this morning....the short term garage is an absolute mess

The new parking deck can’t come soon enough!!

dafunk10 wrote:

Holy WOW at the parking situation right now....I live downtown, and typically Uber/Lyft to the airport, but tried to drive and park for a quick day trip this morning....the short term garage is an absolute mess

The new parking deck can’t come soon enough!!

They said it’ll open this Fall.

southwest1675 wrote:

dafunk10 wrote:

Holy WOW at the parking situation right now....I live downtown, and typically Uber/Lyft to the airport, but tried to drive and park for a quick day trip this morning....the short term garage is an absolute mess

The new parking deck can’t come soon enough!!

They said it’ll open this Fall.

I know, but they could do a better job policing the ST deck. Cars were parked illegally on the ends of all the parking rows creating a one-way road and blind turns on the 2nd and 3rd levels (at least; didn’t check L1).

I guess I just hadn’t used that parking deck since construction began

I just flew through BNA for the first time in a while, and was amazed at how busy it was compared to previous visits. I was stuck at the airport waiting for my ride, which was rather more than fashionably late, in fact infuriatingly so. To keep my sanity, I elected to stay airside until my ride was within minutes. Here are some of my observations from this visit, which are obviously just brief snapshots.

I flew in mid-morning on Friday, Oct 5th on a Delta 757 from ATL, and there were maybe 10 empty seats onboard. The return flight was 4pm Saturday, Oct 13th on an MD88, again practically full. All the Delta flights from/to ATL were very fully booked that day, including the first flight out of ATL, and were progressively fuller in the afternoon / evening, hardly surprising for a Friday. I have read some of the comments concerning some of the reasons for how busy it was around the time I arrived - and there were certainly a large number of college age passengers. However, even without these student types, it would have been very, very busy.

I basically plonked myself down in the seating area around gates B9/10 because it was fairly quiet compared to the Delta gates. While I was sitting there, a couple of commuter flights arrived and departed at gate B9. A Boutique Air PC12 from/to Muscle Shoals and Contour Air Jetstream 31 from/to Tupelo. I noted that the flights to/from Muscle Shoals had 4 or 5 passengers each way, and the Tupelo flights looked like 15 or more each way. A couple of other arrivals were an Allegiant A320 from Punta Gorda at gate B12 that turned to depart to Richmond, VA. The inbound flight from Punta Gorda looked like it was absolutely packed, the flight to Richmond had maybe 140-150 passengers. The other flight was a Westjet 737-800 from/to Calgary at gate B13. Extremely full inbound, maybe 140-150 outbound. My expectation for this flight was for mainly older passengers, but there were people of all ages. This was impressive. I enjoyed the Westjet announcements - "Attention Westjetters...."

I can remember this part of the B concourse being a virtual ghost town in the past....not anymore. In fact, the whole B concourse was constantly busy. Alaska had a 737 at B8 and Jet Blue an A320 at B6, and both gate areas appeared reasonably full of waiting passengers. I also noted an open bed truck carrying four pallets driving across the ramp towards the end of the A concourse. These were obviously for the British Airways Heathrow flight later. I didn't see any cargo containers anywhere, but it was still several hours until the flight arrives. I presume they load the pallets at the arrival gate after offloading the inbound, and load cargo containers after the aircraft is moved to the departure gate, B11.

On my return on Saturday, Oct 13th, the car traffic inbound to the airport was very heavy, and getting into the short term parking was a challenge. Because of all the traffic and the crowded ticket counter areas, I was expecting big delays going through security, but it actually moved smoothly. I noticed an Atlas 747-400 parked over by Fedex, but when we departed, we taxied over to the opposite side of the airport, so could not see if it was passenger or freight. There were also four F18's over by one of the FBO's, tail on so I could not get a good view of them. There also seemed to be an even larger number of executive jets than normal.

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

redtailmsp wrote:

I just flew through BNA for the first time in a while, and was amazed at how busy it was compared to previous visits. I was stuck at the airport waiting for my ride, which was rather more than fashionably late, in fact infuriatingly so. To keep my sanity, I elected to stay airside until my ride was within minutes. Here are some of my observations from this visit, which are obviously just brief snapshots.

I flew in mid-morning on Friday, Oct 5th on a Delta 757 from ATL, and there were maybe 10 empty seats onboard. The return flight was 4pm Saturday, Oct 13th on an MD88, again practically full. All the Delta flights from/to ATL were very fully booked that day, including the first flight out of ATL, and were progressively fuller in the afternoon / evening, hardly surprising for a Friday. I have read some of the comments concerning some of the reasons for how busy it was around the time I arrived - and there were certainly a large number of college age passengers. However, even without these student types, it would have been very, very busy.

I basically plonked myself down in the seating area around gates B9/10 because it was fairly quiet compared to the Delta gates. While I was sitting there, a couple of commuter flights arrived and departed at gate B9. A Boutique Air PC12 from/to Muscle Shoals and Contour Air Jetstream 31 from/to Tupelo. I noted that the flights to/from Muscle Shoals had 4 or 5 passengers each way, and the Tupelo flights looked like 15 or more each way. A couple of other arrivals were an Allegiant A320 from Punta Gorda at gate B12 that turned to depart to Richmond, VA. The inbound flight from Punta Gorda looked like it was absolutely packed, the flight to Richmond had maybe 140-150 passengers. The other flight was a Westjet 737-800 from/to Calgary at gate B13. Extremely full inbound, maybe 140-150 outbound. My expectation for this flight was for mainly older passengers, but there were people of all ages. This was impressive. I enjoyed the Westjet announcements - "Attention Westjetters...."

I can remember this part of the B concourse being a virtual ghost town in the past....not anymore. In fact, the whole B concourse was constantly busy. Alaska had a 737 at B8 and Jet Blue an A320 at B6, and both gate areas appeared reasonably full of waiting passengers. I also noted an open bed truck carrying four pallets driving across the ramp towards the end of the A concourse. These were obviously for the British Airways Heathrow flight later. I didn't see any cargo containers anywhere, but it was still several hours until the flight arrives. I presume they load the pallets at the arrival gate after offloading the inbound, and load cargo containers after the aircraft is moved to the departure gate, B11.

On my return on Saturday, Oct 13th, the car traffic inbound to the airport was very heavy, and getting into the short term parking was a challenge. Because of all the traffic and the crowded ticket counter areas, I was expecting big delays going through security, but it actually moved smoothly. I noticed an Atlas 747-400 parked over by Fedex, but when we departed, we taxied over to the opposite side of the airport, so could not see if it was passenger or freight. There were also four F18's over by one of the FBO's, tail on so I could not get a good view of them. There also seemed to be an even larger number of executive jets than normal.

Thanks for the snapshot of your visit! I love hearing observations like these! The Atlas 744 was a charter flight to return the Baltimore Ravens to Hell, or whenever they go when they’re not playing football.

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

pdt2f wrote:

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

It's already one of the biggest out stations for them. They could gobble up a new concourse with about 10 or so gates and just have at it honestly. OR, and this is the long shot, expand A concourse around the ramp a bit with a dogleg and add some gates.

Lexy wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

It's already one of the biggest out stations for them. They could gobble up a new concourse with about 10 or so gates and just have at it honestly. OR, and this is the long shot, expand A concourse around the ramp a bit with a dogleg and add some gates.

I've thought this as well. It wasn't too long ago virtually everything was 50 seaters. Then the 76 seaters showed up. Now quite a few mainline flights. When BNA Vision is built out, a net gain of six gates isn't enough. Turning B into a mirror image of C maybe. Expanding A less disruptive. I've always thought a satellite where the air cargo building is, or a parallel to the southwestern side of C could be doable.

Lexy wrote:

pdt2f wrote:

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

It's already one of the biggest out stations for them. They could gobble up a new concourse with about 10 or so gates and just have at it honestly. OR, and this is the long shot, expand A concourse around the ramp a bit with a dogleg and add some gates.

I've thought this as well. It wasn't too long ago virtually everything was 50 seaters. Then the 76 seaters showed up. Now quite a few mainline flights. When BNA Vision is built out, a net gain of six gates isn't enough. Turning B into a mirror image of C maybe. Expanding A less disruptive. I've always thought a satellite where the air cargo building is, or a parallel to the southwestern side of C could be doable.

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

This is an interesting question that comes up quite regularly on here. For example, if I want to fly TYS-TPA, UA will probably be my last choice just given the lack of available convenient options. BNA would clearly be the obvious choice as I think the only other possible southern hub for UA is RDU, but I feel it is too close to IAD. I think one of the big issues with opening a new focus city/small southern hub is aircraft resources. They are currently strengthening their entire domestic network. A few years ago we would have said close IAD and move to BNA. However, they now appear profitable there and are growing there as well. Outside of pulling a bunch of 50 seaters out of the desert, I don’t see where the aircraft would come from to start an operation like this at BNA. I would love to be wrong though!

Anyone know why Virgin seems to be operating a one off today?

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR899

MassAppeal wrote:

Anyone know why Virgin seems to be operating a one off today?

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/VIR899

The titans play in London on Sunday, so this is presumably the chartered plane coming to pick them up.

I am hearing whispers that the BA flight performance is sufficiently positive that it isn't triggering the city'guarantees. If this is true BNA may have the budget to bring another carrier in although obviously they would t want to damage the BA performance. Interesting dilemma

Wow Air is supposed to announce a new US city this week. The word on the street is that WN will take all of D, and give up C13, C14, C15. Those would obviously be used to attract new carriers, or AA would pick them up. There will be factors determining if the MNAA expands B or A. For all we know, Southwest may not even wanna give up 3 gates. I hope WN decides to scale back ATL to 60ish daily departures, and turn BNA their primary SE focus city. AA will be losing 2, 3, and 5. Things will get interesting here. As regards to air service in the near future, I would like to see B6 and AS add some more service. I also forgot that B11, B12, and B13 could free up and WS, BA, and such could move in that new IAB. 6 gates? BNA will never need that many gates for international service.

southwest1675 wrote:

Wow Air is supposed to announce a new US city this week. The word on the street is that WN will take all of D, and give up C13, C14, C15. Those would obviously be used to attract new carriers, or AA would pick them up. There will be factors determining if the MNAA expands B or A. For all we know, Southwest may not even wanna give up 3 gates. I hope WN decides to scale back ATL to 60ish daily departures, and turn BNA their primary SE focus city. AA will be losing 2, 3, and 5. Things will get interesting here. As regards to air service in the near future, I would like to see B6 and AS add some more service. I also forgot that B11, B12, and B13 could free up and WS, BA, and such could move in that new IAB. 6 gates? BNA will never need that many gates for international service.

WW is starting a new route as they have announced in recent days they are dropping five U.S. destinations, including JFK. Sounds as if overexpansion is catching up with them. I'd be really shocked if BNA would be on the list, and wary of booking them if they did.

Then again, who would have guessed BA would open LHR-CHS?

southwest1675 wrote:

For all we know, Southwest may not even wanna give up 3 gates. I hope WN decides to scale back ATL to 60ish daily departures, and turn BNA their primary SE focus city.

WN currently serves CUN, GSP, IND, PUJ, RIC, IAD, and PBI nonstop from ATL but not from BNA. While I could see WN possibly making some cuts at ATL, ATL will likely remain a focus city for WN. WN will also likely still continue to operate more than 100 daily departures out of ATL, even if it downsizes at ATL.

I am surprised that WN has kept RIC-ATL nonstop service subsequent to the WN-FL merger when FL dropped nonstop service to ATL from other destinations east of the Mississippi River such as BUF, CLT, FNT, MEM, ROC, and ICT during the WN-FL merger. I am also surprised that WN hasn't yet added RIC-MDW nonstop service when WN had added nonstop service to MDW from other destinations acquired through the WN-FL merger such as CAK, BKG, CLT, DAY, DSM, FNT, GRR, MEM, PWM, ROC, DCA, and ICT.

I am unsure if WN will pull out of GSP or RIC if it plans on scaling back at ATL, but WN could bring back GSP-BNA nonstop service, add RIC-BNA nonstop service, and add RIC-MDW nonstop service if it plans on making additional cuts at ATL.

Is WN likely to bring back GSP-BNA nonstop service or add RIC-BNA nonstop service if WN scales back at ATL?

I've always expected WN would add RIC. Not so sure why GSP was dropped. My gripe with WN at BNA, seems like every time they add, they subtract. They have ample gate space to add.

EvanWSFO wrote:

I've always expected WN would add RIC. Not so sure why GSP was dropped. My gripe with WN at BNA, seems like every time they add, they subtract. They have ample gate space to add.

Departures are up a lot from last year. They have added a lot of frequency to routes more than new destinations.

southwest1675 wrote:

AA will be losing 2, 3, and 5.

When? I don't see how this is possible and for them to still maintain their growing schedule, especially after already giving up 2 gates.

They've added a 3rd daily LAX, upgauged flights to A-321s, and brought mainline to PHL and 1 ORD route. During peak departure times in the morning and afternoons almost every gate is in use.

UALFAson wrote:

southwest1675 wrote:

AA will be losing 2, 3, and 5.

When? I don't see how this is possible and for them to still maintain their growing schedule, especially after already giving up 2 gates.

They've added a 3rd daily LAX, upgauged flights to A-321s, and brought mainline to PHL and 1 ORD route. During peak departure times in the morning and afternoons almost every gate is in use.

Yeah, it'll surely be interesting, but those gates will surely be lost as the new IAB breaks ground.

Oh trust me, if it saves them money, they’d operate 40-50 flights a day out of three gates at BNA.

Lexy wrote:

Oh trust me, if it saves them money, they’d operate 40-50 flights a day out of three gates at BNA.

4-5 gates, 10 flights per gate. They'd make it work

EvanWSFO wrote:

I've always expected WN would add RIC. Not so sure why GSP was dropped. My gripe with WN at BNA, seems like every time they add, they subtract. They have ample gate space to add.

An article in the Upstate Business Journal said that "In June 2014, Southwest eliminated the Nashville flight because, it said, about half of those customers were actually connecting to other flights for travel destinations beyond that hub", and that article can be found at https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/southwest-no-plans-to-leave-gsp/.

I think that WN would now probably be willing to operate BNA-GSP nonstop service with 50% or more of the passengers connecting to other destinations from GSP through BNA since ATL is currently the only destination that WN serves nonstop from GSP. The majority of the passengers traveling on the WN GSP-ATL nonstops are also likely connecting to other destinations with ATL being only 153 miles from GSP.

WN would likely have more O&D traffic on GSP-BNA than it currently does on GSP-ATL if it brought back GSP-BNA nonstop service since BNA is further from GSP than ATL is and since none of the US3 carriers currently have a hub or focus city at BNA.

Even though WN is going head to head with DL in the GSP market by serving only ATL nonstop from GSP, there are a few destinations such as IND, RIC, and PBI that are currently served nonstop from ATL but not from BNA on WN. ATL is also closer to Florida than BNA is, even though WN currently only serves PNS and ECP in the Florida Panhandle nonstop from BNA but not from ATL.

I think that WN bringing back GSP-BNA nonstop service would probably be viable if WN added BNA-IND nonstop service and if WN dropped GSP-ATL nonstop service.

pdt2f wrote:

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

I have thought this as well.

Sooner or later, UA is going to have to address their SE gap/cheap hub void; simply strengthening IAD alone as some on here have suggested isn't going to cut it. Right now, UA needs to focus on strengthening their existing hubs, but eventually, they will need to open a true SE hub (a la DL in SEA), and the only logical place to do it is BNA. Of the other SE cities that aren't ATL or CLT, RDU already has a DL focus city and everywhere else is too small.

If I were the BNA airport leadership, I'd be going up to the Willis Tower in Chicago and pitching BNA as UA's SE hub.

If someone isn’t going into RDU because of the Deta Focus operations there, they certainly aren’t building a hub at BNA with the Southwest operation here. BNA will never be a true hub again and the city is better off for the competition.

BNA had great service today.

Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates. BNA has a large WN focus. RDU is a DL focus along with strong AA and WN

Bluegrass60 wrote:

BNA had great service today.

Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates. BNA has a large WN focus. RDU is a DL focus along with strong AA and WN

SDF, MEM and BHM are not anywhere near big enough markets for a hub operation. There is a reason DL pulled MEM and didn't even bother to keep a focus city like they did with CVG.

Bluegrass60 wrote:

BNA had great service today.

Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates. BNA has a large WN focus. RDU is a DL focus along with strong AA and WN

SDF, MEM and BHM are not anywhere near big enough markets for a hub operation. There is a reason DL pulled MEM and didn't even bother to keep a focus city like they did with CVG.

Bluegrass60 wrote:

Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates.

Explain

pdt2f wrote:

Lexy wrote:

I can't help but notice when I look at UA hubs across the country, BNA would make a nice focus operation for them.

I’ve thought the same thing, as probably many aviation enthusiasts have. They’re weak in the SE and Nashville is perfectly positioned to connect many different parts of the country. They’d probably have to build a satellite concourse or another terminal if any of the legacies wanted to expand in a big way, though.

I personally think Memphis would work a lot better for them. They could practically have the entire passenger complex to themselves. All traffic from the West and Midwest going to Florida could connect through Memphis, while everything going to/from the NE would route through IAD.

Fargo wrote:

There is a reason DL pulled MEM and didn't even bother to keep a focus city like they did with CVG.

Yeah, because they already had a Mega-hub down the road in Atlanta.

If anything, Delta has shown us that you do not need to be in a huge market to be a successful hub. Geography matters a lot more (if it is a connecting hub). Take a look at SLC. Memphis is in a good location for West/Midwest ---> Florida connections. Dulles can handle everything to/from the NE.

ual763 wrote:

I personally think Memphis would work a lot better for them. They could practically have the entire passenger complex to themselves. All traffic from the West and Midwest going to Florida could connect through Memphis, while everything going to/from the NE would route through IAD.

In your scenario, do IAH, DEN, and ORD not exist?

And anyway this is way offtrack from BNA, which is the focus of this thread

Midwestindy wrote:

Bluegrass60 wrote:

Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates.

Explain

"Explain what? My complete post: Not sure UA is looking for an SE hub/focus but if they were would suggest SDF, MEM and BHM are the candidates. BNA has a large WN focus. RDU is a DL focus along with strong AA and WN. (ATL and CLT not considered as they are fortress hubs and UA would not go there)

Point being where in the Southeast might make sense IF UA were looking for a focus/hub operation in the Southeastern USA? For reasons cited above, BNA and RDU would prove more challenging for UA to attract the level of O&D UA might like because of the substantial service currently provided by WN at BNA and DL, AA, WN at RDU. Cities located in the SE that have a CSA population (catchment area) sufficient to support a focus/hub operation would be: SDF, MEM or BHM...and will add GSO...each of those have catchments that exceed 1.3M and are located in the SE and are not over-served by any carrier.

Obviously MEM was a hub/focus for DL, NW and Southern Airways back in the day. MEM has FEDEX Superhub today. GSO was a mini hub for CO Lite back in the day. BHM missed the boat with DL a long time ago but it and SDF were also considered by AA when AA selected BNA. SDF was an EA Focus until it moved to CLT. SDF was also considered for PI minihub which went to DAY. SDF has UPS Superhub today.

I do not believe UA is looking to do anything in the SE....but if it did....I believe the candidates are SDF, MEM, BHM and GSO. There are no other large cities in the SE with the right location for this type operation.

ual763 wrote:

Fargo wrote:

There is a reason DL pulled MEM and didn't even bother to keep a focus city like they did with CVG.

Yeah, because they already had a Mega-hub down the road in Atlanta.

If anything, Delta has shown us that you do not need to be in a huge market to be a successful hub. Geography matters a lot more (if it is a connecting hub). Take a look at SLC. Memphis is in a good location for West/Midwest ---> Florida connections. Dulles can handle everything to/from the NE.

Well, notice what I said; DL pulled MEM and didn’t bother to keep a focus city like CVG. This is for one simple reason: MEM doesn’t have the O&D to support it. Hypothetically, why would UA want to put a hub there over the more centrally located and higher O&D based BNA?

The fact that SDF, GSO, MEM are even being mentioned is laughable. BNA and RDU are the only two SE markets than can support a hub, but it is highly unlikely either one does in the near future.

This hub topic is also being discussed here on the UA thread: viewtopic.php?p=20811473#p20811473.

Personally, I think putting a UA hub at either RDU or BNA would result in a bloodbath for the carrier, and no other "available" SE non-Florida city has the O&D to support a hub.

Fargo - CVG is considered a DL Focus city today. My comment included FOCUS or HUB operation. BNA and RDU CAN NOT support a UA hub or focus AND their current level of service. Actually NONE of these cities could support a full blown UA hub. BNA and RDU failed with AA; MEM and CVG failed with DL

MEM, SDF, GSO and SDF could all support a UA focus operation (GSO perhaps the most challenging because of proximity to RDU)

Bluegrass60 wrote:

Fargo - CVG is considered a DL Focus city today. My comment included FOCUS or HUB operation. BNA and RDU CAN NOT support a UA hub or focus AND their current level of service. Actually NONE of these cities could support a full blown UA hub. BNA and RDU failed with AA; MEM and CVG failed with DL

MEM, SDF, GSO and SDF could all support a UA focus operation (GSO perhaps the most challenging because of proximity to RDU)

Why does UA need a hub in the southeast? Compared to all the other carriers, the big 4 and ULCC's, Florida is very well covered. UA is a fairly weak player in the southeast and Florida in particular. They have hubs that can feed most cities in the southeast already. Granted many are RJ flights, but that can change. They upgraded BNA to mainline with a number of flights. Putting a focus city in the southeast is a sure way to lose money for them.