Wayward Memphian

Paris is a bit of a surprise considering the amount of tourism from the UK would otherwise suggest London being a better option for more passengers. In case you all don't know, the NL Gov't is really clamping down on AMS flights as they have gone climate crisis crazy. Fed Ex promising full bellies to a cargo hub certainly subsidizes the passenger end. Of Course, AF has Delta as a partner and a share of ownership. Delta's marketshare in Memphis has eroded quite a bit since the de hub. I assumed BA might have been interestrd n LHR/MEM with the A321XLR but they are underperforming on promised range and the B787s are too much plane American has pulled the plug on making AUS a bit of a connecting hub. That meant the AUS/MEM flight bit the dust. That was losing money on all kinds of fronts. The worse performing hub for a major airline now is Delta in Seattle.

Well, the Musicfest is kaput. Congrats to the River Park filk that wanted it gone for years(decades). One of the reasons I wanted a downtown stadium adjacent to Beale, the Music Fest, a larger venue that was needed to bolster the attendance needed for profitability. MiM is a shell of it's former self with the crime (smash and grabs of cars) and self sabotage by supposed community leaders. Meanwhile I'm going to Sting tonight in Northwest Arkansas. Never thought I'd see the day that NWA was a better concert scene than Memphis. But, alas.

Now for Delta, decent 1st Class bookings Put those two flights together and you have a really solid flight on 1 RJ for the doldrum season at 70 total. Those together in peak season would make a decent Delta A221 (108 seats in 2x3 configuration ) flight with a RON in Memphis. Delta needs to win this fight IMO.

Time for a little 2023 to 2019 comparison for July July 2019 94 flights, 212,094 enplanements July 2023 85 flights, 224,211 enplanements. That's a (ballparkin') 12k or 5% passenger enplanement gain. Less flights which means some upgauging of equipment. Who's winning on Boston? That's tricky. I do not believe that both carriers will continue to offer it. Someone will fold. Sept is the dog days of air travel right up there with the winter doldrums of late Jan and Feb. Lets peak in to MEM to BOS on this upcoming Monday. First the current situation on AA's flight. Crappy 1st Class bookings.

I could give two squirts in a Delta jet if it is a Holiday Inn Express or a Tapestry or whatever. It isn't some bland, off the shelf stucco suburban exit look. If they keep the rooms clean, treat you nice, and feed you a bland but decent breakfast it'll do for most.

Without getting into the political muck, the term mass shooting has been high jacked by one political party and their friends in the media in the shaping of the gun debate. Kinda like.how every thunderboomer and front is a product of climate change.

I found out about the "mass shooting" in Memphis via a Facebook post by KFSM TV 5, the local Tenga owned CBS station in NWA. They did not post about Nashville. That is a sister station to WREG. What that did was take the highest viewed local station's social media platform and inform potentially 1 million people about 4 to 5 hours away of that incident. I see the stupidity every time I come home on I- 240, there's never not a car going well over a 100 mph and at least half the time I experience at least two cars racing. That's fact, not my opinion. I have said for years (here and Skyscraper City) that Memphis should have built a new Convention Center/Hotel near Beale St. with a closed or retractable fabric roof stadium in the 50 to 55k range . Much like BC Place in Vancouver BC Canada.

One of the reasons I've implored for a LB replacement or at least a soccer stadium at the the old CA property was to incorporate the Music Fest with it. West Stage at Mud Island Amp or the southern tip(I remember the Horde Tour being there) and East Stage at new stadium. Have simultaneous headliners from different genres at close, control the crowd by offering a ticket for various closing stages. But unless Memphis gets control of what is happening in front of the Hampton Inn, this is all mute as the reputation of Memphis as a lawless crime cess pool grows outside if it's borders. Memohis needs to reinvent it's streets with major traffic calming methods to get rid the racing and donut fests.

Anyone going address the "damage" bill handed to Memphis in May l, particularly to the BBQ fest? They seem to be trying to kill off Memphis in May at Tom Lee. Why would any other festival want to come if they are going to get a bill like that. Memphis should talking about adding a second weekend to the music fest and a land bridge from the Landing to Mud Island to expand the BBQ Competition but not Memphis.......?

The Ellis Auditorium /North Hall (now The New Cannon Center) once hosted concerts. I saw the Jayhawks/Black Crowes there. The concerts have shifted to the Orpheum. I love concerts at the Orpheum, I go to the Midland in KC as well.

If you look at the Top 25 current unserved markets, MEM and Breeze would seem like a no brainer especially if you look at their east coast cities, their A223s and the needs of MEM on the west coast. JAX-MEM- (SEA, PDX, others) are screaming "Breeze Thru" at 2 and 3 times a week. ORF-MEM-SAN does as well.

The route is doomed as Avelo will suspend it with no plans to restart it. Consider it "inside baseball" for the reasons why. If it shows promise, maybe Breeze will finally inter the market and put an E190 on it with a nice coastal tag on the back end. The top 25 markets not served is littered with places Breeze has set up shop.

NHL is pushing for Hockey first arenas. Baseball is expensive with the farm team payrolls to support and Memphis would need a very small stadium of no more than 28 to 29 K. Damn Shame our sports leagues aren't ran like the EPL and other Euro Soccer leagues. Give me a 45 to 50 team NFL with two divisions and a system of relegation and promotions SLC, MEM, San Antonio, AUS, Orlando, StL, Louisville, OKC/Tulsa, Columbus, San Diego, others. Ditto for the NBA, STL, Kansas City, Louisville/Cincy, Omaha, Seattle, others.

A HoB with Sunday Gospel Brunch is ready made foe the river Cruiser set. And, yea, the New Daisy and the Police station should be it.

They need to add a decent music venue like the HardEock in Tulsa has. Bit first, they need to buy up the crap that is around that exit like that boat shop in an old service station and that seedy motel.

We can debate this till the cows come home but there was a perfect opportunity to use the Commercial Appeal and the Union Row development area for a new convention/Hotel/smaller enclosed football stadium connected to Beale and this city pissed it away. But, I digress. I think Gov Lee would have worked with the city like it did for the hundreds of millions to put more makeup on the fairgrounds pig.

These are Prime DCA slots. If this comes back after the Sept lull, I'll be impressed and AA will be really pissed. And... if it does. How will it effect the on again, off again BWI service that sure does offer more connecting options to the Northeast.

Southwest adds MEM/DCA Jully11th to Sept 4th. This is a total headscratcher with AA flying this 4 x daily last I looked. Fares will be lowering for sure. Short operation period but daily https://www.facebook.com/1449633685251498/posts/pfbid02qZTnBeSNJNVQcsUb1Ny62fdbqUF4jjC3P6V2F8z3wRH3uBsBkc8HkXpRYibNhgGql/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Haslem was a Republican and lead the Nashville Boom as mayor before moving to Governor's office where he continued his Nashville bias. It is fair I guess as the Boss Crump machine controlled Tenn politics for decades. But, Nashville, like Austin has moved way to the left with their growth. They are now often at odds with the folks on the Capotol grounds much like Austin is with the Texas ledge. I find it amusing. This gov no matter his political affiation seems to be a bit more focused on all of Tenn not just middle TN/Nashville. And... why y'all feeding the troll.

You are not going to get a passenger airline hq'd here. What this does is make MEM and BNA even more attractive to service because the fueling costs will be lower. Think bases for Allegiant or upstart Breeze with a couple of planes based here flying out and backs. It also makes RON-ing(remain overnight ) more attractive. And...it makes stops in MEM attractive during the day to refuel.

While one can claim BNA is not a hub in the traditional sense, that isn't necessarily true. Southwest connects a good many folks via BNA just like they do at places like STL and ATL. Those numbers helps boost those BNA stats as they offload and board their connecting flight. You almost limit the MEM numbers to O&D only as their are very few connecting passengers though a bet a few pass through on Southwest without actually changing planes. That said, there's no doubt that Nashville also has more O & D traffic and it is growing. But... those numbers are buried in the overall stats.

MEM is moving forward with the 150 million phase 1 of the Terminal redo. March showed Memphis need way more parking. Through March 2023 MEM has had 497,211 total enplanements(passenger boarding a flight only) for 2023. That is a gain compared to 492,626 in 2019 at this time. March only numbers (April is not posted yet) for enplanements at Memphis was 195,134 this year compared to pre pandemic 2019's 193,605. For bigger numbers like overall passengers it is roughly double these numbers. Example, departments for March 2023 was 199k and change. So... roughly 394K total passengers. The airline industry is highly constrained for any growth at the moment. Lack of pilots, increased costs including insane new pilot pay contracts for the majors, new plane delivery delays, fuel prices ect, ect ect are greatly impacting all carriers old an new. See how few new Allegiant routes were added this year. The Avelo route was odd to start with, timing horrible and there was another factor I can't get into.

The Avelo flight to RDU will end in early Sept. Don't expect it to return,

Good, they kicked the can down the road a couple of times since they started offering it for sale months ago. April and May dates were cancelled after being offered up.

Looking at the March stats for the airport, it was within 5k of hitting 200k enplanments for March. That outpaced 2019 by several thousand. 2023 as a whole is outpacing 2019. It is important that Memphis gets it's Terminal done to match the Concourse B improvements, that on site hotel , new car rental garage facility, and develop plans to finish the SW hall of the B concourse in the late 2020s. I think more gates for RON planes helps with service. How's Boston you may ask? Here are the load factors available so far for AA by Einlria on the Patreon platform: MEM Jun 87(-8) Jul 79(**) Aug 79(-15) Sep 73(**) Oct 82(**) Nov 70(**) Dec 67(**) Jan 43(**) https://www.patreon.com/Enilria/posts That Jan number is horrific as is much of the Winter. Let's hope that is a seasonal anomaly especially with Delta adding it. Memphis also need to land service with Breeze.