Nashville airport plans $1.2B overhaul, including new hotel

Nashville International Airport is embarking on an ambitious $1.2 billion renovation that will touch virtually every corner of the airport and change every aspect of the traveler’s experience.

New parking, more security lines, larger baggage claim and ticketing areas, expanded concourse space and a first-of-its-kind hotel are among the projects planned over the next five to seven years.

The renovation and expansion, dubbed by the Metro Nashville Airport Authority as “BNA Vision,” will rank among the most expensive in the city's history.

Airport leaders said the renovation is in response to a record-breaking number of passengers coming through Nashville — 12.2 million for the fiscal year ending June 30.

The renovation was made possible, they said, by the change in the airport’s governance structure last year, which switched control over capital projects from the airlines to the Airport Authority. But the onslaught of projects comes after a topsy-turvy year at the airport, which had one of its top officials convicted of fraud and saw its leadership roundly criticized by a consulting report uncovered by The Tennessean.

Consultant's report slams Nashville Airport Authority, calls for culture change

Airport Authority President and CEO Rob Wigington said the renovation and expansion are necessary to address the growing number of travelers passing through BNA and to make the airport a gateway that matches Music City’s ongoing tourism boom.

“By 2035, the population of the Greater Nashville area is expected to surpass 2.5 million people, and Nashville International Airport’s passenger traffic will grow from 12 million today to more than 20 million," Wigington said. “We are experiencing this rapid growth firsthand as we set new air passenger records every week, month and year.”

Among the first projects will be the construction of a new parking garage, which is already underway. It will add 2,000 parking spaces and should be completed in the fall of 2018.

The airport also will add ticketing counters and additional baggage claims in addition to expanding concourse D, which will bring more gates and give the potential to add more airlines.

A spacious central entrance hall will be built, called the Grand Ole Lobby, which will include additional federal security screening lanes. At its busiest, Nashville, like other airports, has seen dreadfully long security lines, notably in March when the passenger queue stretched outside the building.

In a nod to the business and tourism industries’ desire for direct international flights to and from Nashville, the vision also calls for a new international arrivals building. Nashville leaders have been in hot pursuit of direct flights to London and Tokyo, in particular, and frustration mounted last year as those efforts seemed to reach a standstill.

Design details are still to come, Wigington said.

“I think this is the most exciting time for the Midstate,” Airport Authority board chairman Bobby Joslin said. “Because we’re regional. This is not just for Nashville. It’s for southern Kentucky, north Alabama, Knoxville. What we are proposing and where we’re headed, this should be the most exciting thing the city has seen in many, many years. Because it’s a welcome mat for everybody coming and everybody leaving to say goodbye.

“We want to keep this thing warm and friendly like it is now.”

Airport leaders acknowledged the renovation would have to change the traveler’s experience. The goal is to minimize that by stretching the projects out over approximately seven years.

The projects are funded through the airport’s existing revenue streams, which come from bond sales, federal and state aviation grants, parking and concessions revenue and rental fees paid through the airline agreements. The Airport Authority has an annual budget of about $119 million.

In a demonstration of the airport’s sound financial health, Wigington pointed out that the authority’s bond rating is strong. Last year, the Airport Authority issued $200 million in bonds to fund the first wave of projects. Wigington said the bond market was eager to buy even more bonds and he expects a positive reception when more debt is issued in the coming months.

Plans also call for rerouting a portion of Donelson Pike by shifting the road slightly to the east to provide better ease of access and traffic circulation.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry noted that moving the roadway would require state support and more community outreach. However, she said the idea isn't new and said that aspect of the project "would ultimately improve traffic flows for area residents and travelers alike.”

In general, Barry heralded the sweeping initiative.

“Nashville International Airport is the first impression of Music City that many travelers and tourists get, so it’s important that we leave a good one," Barry said in a statement. "These renovations — which are funded by revenues generated by the Airport Authority and not tax dollars — will make ours one of the finest transit hubs in the country and serve as a great welcome for people coming to Nashville.”

Wigington said there have not yet been discussions with local tourism leaders on plans for a 200- to 300-room hotel that will be built at the airport facility.

As the Airport Authority sets out on the major renovation, the organization’s leadership structure was sharply criticized by a consultant’s report issued last year by the firm Greeley Pond.

Ex-airport executive pleads guilty to $1.1 million fraud

The report came after the authority changed its 30-year-old operating agreement. Under the old agreement, airlines had to sign off on any proposed capital projects and underwrite the airport’s operations. Very few major airports utilize this model.

Wigington spearheaded a change to the more typical model in which the airlines don’t need to give their approval, but the authority also loses their financial safety net. Some of the projects planned as part of BNA Vision would not have been possible under the old operating agreement, Wigington said.

When the authority changed its operating agreements, Wigington hired Greeley Pond to analyze its governance structure. The subsequent report was critical and called into question whether the authority was prepared to operate more like a business. The report found the airport “uncooperative internally and operating one year at a time in reactive mode, that is, more like a government bureaucracy than a proactive business enterprise.”

“There was a whole lot that had to change at the airport to be able to do any of this," Wigington said. “Just changing the airline agreement was a game changer for the airport for the whole environment and how it operates."

Wigington said improvements were particularly in order for strategic planning and commercial development divisions.

“I want us to be as good or better than some of the best airports in the world,” he said. “We know as good as we’ve been and some of the innovations we have, there’s a lot more we can do, a lot more we need to do and a lot more now with this expanded space. I changed some responsibilities and brought in some folks, and tried to realign the organization to be more focused on that.”

Besides the consultant’s report, the authority also was in the news last year when one of its top officials was indicted and subsequently convicted of fraud, bribery and money laundering charges.

John T. Howard was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution for his role in a fraud scheme involving minority contractors.

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.

Airport expansion by the numbers

24: Total number of possible security lines, up from 10

2,000: New parking spaces to be added

20 million: Anticipated passenger traffic at BNA by 2035

$1.2 billion: Estimated total investment for renovation and expansion of BNA