dxfret

What happened to the planned pedestrian bridge connecting the Gulch and SoBro areas? It seems like this was first announced years ago, yet absolutely nothing has happened. Is this likely to ever materialize?

I’ve flown the British Airways flight to LHR three times since this service began. Each flight in both directions was almost completely full, including business class. Clearly there is strong demand for this service. BA must be very happy with the flight’s performance to go 7X each week so quickly.

The New York Times love affair with all things Nashville continues with this “36 Hours in Nashville” article. https://nyti.ms/2OtZr2X?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Since Whole Foods Market was purchased by Amazon there have been significant price reductions. If you are an Amazon Prime member and use the Whole Foods app when checking-out, the savings can be significant. Furthermore if you pay using an Amazon Prime Visa card, there are even further savings. Publix is much more expensive than Kroger any day and some of the price differences are HUGE. Kroger stores always seem to be dirty and poorly maintained however they do have some much better locations such as Green Hills, Brentwood, Melrose and Bellevue.

Downtown Memphis continues to struggle and the north end of downtown seems especially desolate. The Bass Pro Shop Pyramid is cut off from by the interstate bridge and there is little else nearby other than vacant lots. There is urban blight all across Memphis, especially the vacant and deteriorating Sterrick Building and 100 North Main. The Mississippi Riverfront has so much potential that has never been tapped. Mud Island is like a ghost town. Beale Street is empty in comparison to the throngs of visitors we see every day of the week on lower Broadway. Such a stark contrast to Nashville.

The loads on the WestJet nonstop flights from BNA to Calgary, Alberta (YYC) are also very strong. Lots of vacationers to/from Banff and Music City.

Sun Country Airlines is the new domestic carrier to serve BNA. Flights to Minneapolis, Miami, Orlando, Fort Meyers and New Orleans. Connections in MSP to west coast. 2 days per week for most service.

Hopefully it will be another European destination— Iceland (Icelandair or Wow), or Frankfurt (Condor). BNA’s facilities are stretched right now, not enough gates, baggage claim, check in counters. The completion of those many BNA Vision construction projects are needed ASAP. Th e load factors for the LHR-BNA route were just reported by British Airways as very strong.

The Boeing 787 is perhaps the most advanced commercial aircraft flying. The 787-8 is the smallest version and was designed as a replacement for the old 767s. Seats in economy class on BA, or any airline, are never going to be really comfortable especially for a long haul flight. BA, and most airlines now offer a Premium Economy product (larger more spacious seats, better meals and amenities) for a slightly higher fare. The best features of this particular airplane are the much better cabin pressurization and the large windows with automatic dimming. I would always choose a Boeing 787 or the similar Airbus A350 anytime over the previous generations of widebody aircraft, just as I would always choose a nonstop flight over any type of connecting flight.

Iceland on its own has become a huge and important tourist destination, especially over the past 10 years. Hence there are now two Icelandic Air carriers (Icelandair and WOW Air). Reykjavik is also well served by numerous US and European carriers. It is definitely not always cheap to fly there, especially in summer when there is almost always sunlight. Iceland itself is no longer as important as transfer point for ultra cheap flights to Europe because there are so many nonstop flights to Europe from numerous US cities. If BNA gets service to Reykjavik I hope it will be on Icelandair.

Passenger wise Memphis (MEM) is very weak. There are only 85 total flights per day on all of the carriers flying there. Service to the west coast is miserable.

That is just one of many big box office towers along 6th Ave built in the 60s-70s. Tenants typically are law, advertising, finance and entertainment firms. Bear Stearns had it own tower on Madison Ave. Lehman Bros was in a similar bldg in 7th Ave.

Another prime building spot is the current large parking lot at Church Street and Bank Street, between 1st and 2nd Aves.

Over the past 12 years the entire city and region have exploded with all kinds of growth and development. During this boom era the biggest debacle of all has to be Alex S. Palmer and his repeated failures to do anything with this prime site. Palmer’s greed and poor decisions caused HCA to quickly walk away. He also had to sell his namesake office building (formerly known as Palmer Plaza) now named 1801 West End Ave. In the annals of Nashville development this must rank as the single biggest failure. Here’s hoping the Propst group has much more success.

I’m unable to find any nonstop flights between SJC and BHM on any airline. All scheduled flights on this route require a stop or change of planes somewhere. Doubtful BNA really needs a nonstop to San Jose since the Bay Area is already well covered with multiple daily nonstop flights to SFO on United and Virgin America/Alaska, and nonstop to OAK on Southwest

National Life & Accident Insurance Company

Southwest Airlines set to announce new nonstop service between BNA and Oklahoma City this morning

Clearly Marriott has very recently refreshed and updated the logo to emphasize the JW. Looks very modern and the sign fits the new Nashville building very well.

Drove by there today and the JW MARRIOTT sign is clearly visible from quite a distance. I could easily read the letters from the Rolling Mill Hill area. Seems the right size and will be even more visible when illuminated.

The strong passenger growth and the new improvements at BNA are positive signs for Nashville and the region. The British Airways nonstop to London Heathrow will bring even more.

Highly, highly doubtful about this one. It is indeed sad that two of the tallest buildings in downtown Memphis (100 North Main and Sterrick Building) have both been abandoned for years and are literally falling apart. The cost of rehab would be hugely prohibitive and the northern end of downtown is like a ghost town Memphis is also a weak convention and tourism market which would seem to be yet another strike against such a hotel project.

It was the Hyatt Regency Nashville.

The new Dillard’s in Green Hills is just a big, windowless box built on top of a parking garage. It is certainly ugly from the exterior and the interior is no better. It’s still the same Dillard’s quality, with way too much mediocre merchandise filling the aisles in a new building. They appear to be fewer customers since not being connected to the main mall makes access difficult. One of the many reasons why work is happening fast on the extension to the mall.

The entire city of Nashville has exploded with growth and development yet Alex Palmer has never been able to do anything other than dig himself a big empty hole. It’s well known that he has serious financial problems even having to sell his namesake Palmer Plaza (know known as 1801 West End). Palmer has a reputation as a greedy businessman. He was badly burned when his dream tenant HCA had enough of his inability to secure financing and smartly walked away and built their tower at Capitol View.

I was in Europe on a British Airways flight earlier this week. The December issue of BA’s “High Life “ inflight magazine has a full page notice promoting their new London Heathrow to Nashville nonstop flight starting May 4th. The article features a full color page of the Hatch Show Print poster “Nashville Music City USA”. Nashville is also listed as a BA destination city on the airline’s route maps. Hopefully the MNAA will also publicize this new nonstop route.