[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

1 hour ago, Nashville Cliff said:

I was inside BNA last night for the first time in a long time. I know it is still deep in construction and I assume that it is more attractive once you pass through security and get to the gates, but the ticketing and baggage areas are as bland as one could imagine. Whatever charm or amenities the public part of the airport had are now gone. The baggage area is bigger, which should be good, but it still took over 40 minutes for the bags to come out for the people I was picking up.

It's aggressively sterile in baggage claim. Lots of wasted floor space and white walls. A semi-permanent bar could go against the wall between carousel 2 and the offices there and help out a little. With rental car offices temporarily relocating to under the North Terminal Checkpoint, I would imagine material changes to the aesthetics of the entire level will happen once that space is re-claimed.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Well now we know who will replace Hudson News!

Unrelated - https://www.wkrn.com/news/record-number-of-weapons-detected-at-bna-after-new-gun-law-takes-effect/ Almost one gun per day in July is crazy.

(Edited to show correct story)

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Last flight for awhile (could be 4 weeks, could be 3 months) and walked the C/D gates. All food outlets were busy, especially Pyramids and Swett's. The Radio Road space was being prepped for a vinyl wrap advertising the next tenant, but I couldn't stay long enough to watch it go up. I saw a half dozen workers leave the empty shell next to Tootsie's, demo work was going on but no sign of a new tenant. Nothing new with the Vino Volo space, not even signage. 

The Hudson News at the confluence of the C and D gates is not long for this world as illustrated in the first two pictures, tape on the floor outlining where sheetrock will eventually go was evident. 

BK was closed by 8:30 again, but Party Fowl signage has been installed. One last pic through the plastic sheet behind the cage for good measure. If I had to guess I'd say they should be open by Labor Day weekend.

The future Puckett's space has just a few tables and chairs, an ATM and a fuel rod vending machine for now. It's going to be a tight squeeze based on the floorplan provided by @downtownresident, I don't think the architects factored in carry on bags and strollers in their design.

 

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

For some perspective, I flew in today from MYR and it was a zoo. TSA wait times from noon-3p have been upwards of 3 hours, and every gate has a plane at it. There were enough people in front of me at chick fil a to fill a CRJ and the sit down places had waits of an hour. Compare that with 3 years ago and half the B concourse was dark. The direct flight on southwest last Saturday was nearly full and the return flight was at least 100 of 143. Through all the waiting, it's nice to see this kind of economic recovery!

Now to BNA - The re-located Radio Road/Fly Babies store next to Tailgate and formerly BK in C is walled up and there's no new signage. 

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

1 hour ago, Bark At The Sun said:

So, is Popeyes closed for good?  I primarily fly Southwest 4-5 times a year and have missed that over the last year or so.   Didn't care for their breakfast, but liked that you could pick up an affordable fried chicken dinner at 6am before a flight.

Long gone, and inaccessible from C/D gates. BK lounge, 400 degrees, and tootsies are your best shot at fried chicken for breakfast. Party Fowl will be next to open. Pyramids has a breakfast menu but I don't recall what's on it, I will check on Saturday or Monday when I'm there.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

It's a blessing and a curse I fly at max every 10 days. Tomorrow will be my third trip there this week. I appreciate the endorsement and I'm glad to provide updates as long as I'm there. The staff at Barista Parlor recognize me which is beginning to become a problem because their chocolate muffins are quite good...

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Not much new Intel in this article other than brass is not thrilled with Fraport. Looks like the next hard deadline is 12/31 for openings.  https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2021/07/22/nashville-bna-airport-sees-more-passengers-covid-19-variants-threaten/8046007002/

Here now and there's not much new since Monday. There are some nice new high top tables between Swett's and urban juicer.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Got through security and watched them shut the gate at BK at 7:52, hopefully they ran out of food and they intend to stay open past sunset. I also got a peek (but no pictures) in the tailgate space when the workers popped out to rip some carpet up, totally cold shell at the moment as far as the eye could see back towards C-9. Lines are way down all around which is great.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

I had my hands full tonight so no pictures but the sheetrock is down in front of Party Fowl, although it won't be open anytime soon. BK is still not open, but I noticed the registers were on tonight. Not sure what the holdup is.

Pickup was another complete cluster-f tonight, between Southwest having 0 flights on time and these ridiculous lane closures, the backup started at I-40. Something needs to change quickly.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Looks like the perfect storm of new food court flooring, old food court flooring, and some carpet for good measure. Perhaps overnight between now and October the carpet and old food court tiles can be ripped up and unified. In true BNA fashion I bet they pick 3pm on a summer Sunday to start, maybe the night after the grand prix race for maximum irritation.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Thank goodness! I have 3 straight weeks of travel coming up and this is welcome news. 

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

On 7/7/2021 at 4:44 PM, downtownresident said:

Yeah, the fact that this was announced in front of a crowd of 350k is laughable. I’d understand if it was for other cities, but Nashville hasn’t been hurting for travelers for months. 

It covers Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga as well. Hopefully there's quotas and those cities get more slots, but who knows.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

It's an interesting promo, I clicked around and if you pay for the hotel through the site you get the voucher. So it's guaranteed work for hotels and guaranteed money going through the sales and hotel tax channels. Probably not an even trade on the surface, but an 85% occupied hotel has more staff working than a 60% occupied hotel which gets the economy moving further in the right direction. And I could have sworn Brad was from West Virginia...

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Spy shot of progress of the central terminal area from the departure level. This normally would be the door with a clean view of the C/D exit and American's old ticket counters on the right. Have to say, I'm a little disappointed in the lack of progress. Maybe I had an unflattering angle, but I thought I might be able to see clean through to the other side by now. In more positive news, it looked like BK had a bread delivery inside their fencing so here's hoping it opens in the next few days. 

No new retail additions/subtractions in C and D, very ready for Swett's to open and to see who their neighbor will be.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Huge volumes of traffic last night poorly managed by the airport. Outer arrival lanes at the terminal closed around 830 and there were 3 lanes of traffic for all pickups and dropoffs. By the time I left around 845, the line to get in the airport was back to the eastbound I-40.  Airport comms is busy sending half-assed apologies to people on Twitter but it's a public safety issue if people are stopped on a highway. The steel contractors need to be shifted to a 10-6 or 11-7 schedule on Thursdays and Fridays when arrival traffic is high in the evening, there were 21 arrivals between 8 and 9pm last night. Management needs a swift kick in the rear end if not a full on shake up.

In other news, BK had their menu board lit up but has yet to open across from D-1/2, an eatery next to Swett's future home across from C-12 looks nearly complete - can't see any signage but they have a dark wood plank facade visible from above the sheetrock. No Party Fowl signage up at all but based on previous announcements, this will occupy both false fronts in the D gates between BK and the restrooms.

Safe travels to all this weekend!

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

9 hours ago, samsonh said:

More food options are desperately needed. Lines are long at the few current places. Management has dropped the ball on this one.

You're telling me. I average a trip every 10 days and it's just embarrassing. The new Music Row Supply has a wall of cold food that was picked clean last night, and the line for 400 degrees was bordering on a fire hazard. I hope Swett's and BK open soon to relieve pressure on the other outlets, I've heard 400 degrees has run out of food more than a few times. I haven't been to the A/B side in awhile but it wasn't bustling with commerce before the construction and pandemic. Whomever signed off on closing the C food court with no replacements should be relegated to traffic duty. 

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Swett's BBQ looking good behind some sheetrock directly adjacent to Pyramids Cafe and facing the former food court. 

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Music Row Supply as referenced above opened in the retail space adjacent to C-19. The former Gibson/Stage Cafe space adjacent to C-20 and Barista Parlor has Three Casks signage up. BK (across from D-2) had a paper sign up which hopefully means they will open soon. Airport is at full capacity and there's plenty of delays on the board from storms to the north. Safe travels to all this weekend.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

True To Tennessee opened in Concourse D across from D-3 recently, along with Urban Juicer across from C-14 and I can't quite pin down where Music Row Supply actually is, I will look around the C/D gates on Thursday but there's plenty of sheetrock up in A and B.  Lots of complaints Monday about security lines, I wonder if the race had anything to do with it or if it was a staffing issue? Long lines and limited options is a tough look all around. Website says both checkpoints have a 20+ minute wait at the moment.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

A couple updates from the D gates:

-BK looks to be a week out, tops. The sheetrock has come down and the counter and menu screens are up. Permanent signage looks to be the only thing left for front of house. This is across from D-1 and immediately next to 8th and Roast.

-True to Tennessee is coming to the retail space next to D-3. I  had previously speculated Party Fowl would open here, but signage is up and it looks like it just needs to be merchandised. That would leave Party Fowl in one of the two shells in front of D-2, as District News has taken all the retail past D-4. The temporary newsstand is still up and both were doing good business tonight.

-(Gibson) Stage Cafe is permanently closed, with new sheetrock up. The space looks wide enough for two quick serve concepts or another sit-down concept. The space across from it has had sheetrock up for quite some time with no indication of future tenants.

Brisk business at all open retail in C/D. Starbucks is the last restaurant that has been open since 2019 with no renovation or relocation; given managements preference to close an outlet once another one opens, and with two local coffee concepts on C/D already and another 8th and Roast on the way, I have to wonder how long Starbucks is for this world.

Roof looks nice on both sides of the terminal, some of the skin is up on the airfield side and there are only a few pieces of structural steel left to install over the roadways. Got here too late to get a good picture.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Pyramids Cafe is OPEN across from Starbucks and inmotion, and doing great business tonight. Gibson Cafe is closed, no net increase in eateries. Simply unbelievable.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Snooped around a bit more tonight and have the following to report:

*Sobro brews+cocktails kiosk coming to the C dogleg.

*Pyramids cafe looks 2 weeks out if I had to guess. They have signage up on one of the pillars and a coke machine installed. This is between the old food court and C-12/13.

*Vino volo (just a guess, midmarket airports without a crappy wine bar are in violation of the Geneva convention) coming to the space directly across from C-12/13.

*BK lounge signage across from D-1, next to 8th and roast. No good snooping angles but that's the first official signage I've seen for them. "Landing June 2021" would put fraport in violation of their agreement as reported previously.

*Party fowl (another guess based on aesthetics) coming to D-3 area, next to minute suites. 2 pictures. I'd also say 10-14 days out but I've never built a chicken restaurant.

*District news coming to D-4/5 with what I have to assume is one giant store behind a pillar. I have to assume the random shelves and fridges between D-3 and D-4 will go away once this opens so it can be marketed towards a permanent tenant.

*Lastly, an angle of the roofing work from the end of the C concourse, 1.0 and 2.5 zoom levels, respectively.

TSA was smooth but some storms in Texas have some extra folks who are behind schedule milling around. Let's hope some of this sheetrock comes down soon!

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Two week update on the C food court space, and there's not a whole lot new. On the other side of the dogleg, some increased activity where 8th and Roast, West End News etc will be coming, looks like some new studs are up.

It also looked like one of the restaurants across the hall (either pyramids or urban juicer) is close to opening, usually it's dark back there but it was lit up and the ceilings were finished. Southwest was doing their best to not try very hard at baggage claim, signs were wrong and multiple flights on one belt. Good luck to all that are travelling this weekend.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

Genuinely curious about this, does BNA plan to re-number the C gates to reflect losing C1 long ago, C2 and C3 in the expansion/T gates, and all the doors at the end of C that used to serve regional jets?

Same question for  Concourse B.

[Nashville International Airport Development thread]

2 hours ago, Sean blackdog said:

Today this morning from LGA.  Not BNA. 
https://thepointsguy.com/news/lga-new-taxiway/

U think BNA need new a bridge between Concourse C and new Satellite Concourse? 

I will never understand why this wasn't done at a 90° angle to the end of the existing A Gates to be connected to a re-built A in the future.  

Frontier is leaving LAX because they are unhappy with their passengers having to take a bus to a satellite concourse. The operators that go to BNA's satellite will either need discounts on passenger fees or move there with the understanding they can go to a re-built concourse A.