The future and prosperity of the Memphis International Airport remains questionable to locals as mixed opinion exists among travelers who frequent the airport for business and pleasure.
The Memphis International Airport (MEM) was once a regular transfer stop for business and leisure travelers because it was a hub for Delta Air Lines. Some people may be unaware of how much the airport has changed over the years.
“Locally, passengers could take advantage of our hub status because there were many destinations and non-stop flights that were rarely populated with Memphis passengers,†said Glen Thomas, the director of strategic marketing and communications at Memphis International Airport.
During the hub era, 75 to 80 percent of MEM travelers were transfer passengers, formally known as people who were connecting through Memphis.
In 2018, MEM had 4.4 million passengers come through its doors. Thomas said there are certainly some positive trends happening at the Memphis airport. He said the number of origin and destination passengers is actually higher now than it was during the hub era.
“We’re seeing a trend of increased air traffic across the nation, and we’ve been outpacing the national average over the past few years,†Thomas said.
In 2008, Delta merged with Northwest Airlines and decided in 2013 that Atlanta would be the sole hub in the Southern United States, removing Memphis’ hub status. Memphis lost almost two-thirds of its passengers, from 11 million in 2007 to only 4 million in 2017, according to Alan Blinder’s report in The New York Times.
Mixed opinions exist among travelers who frequently go to the airport for business and pleasure.
Aimee Gregg, vice president of recycling and recovered fiber at International Paper, flies three to four times a month and has been affected by the decrease of flights in and out of Memphis.
“I have to either pick flights before the sun comes up and/or come home at midnight,†Gregg said.
Most of Memphis flyers who travel through Memphis’ airport are known as origin and destination passengers, meaning they are either coming to or leaving Memphis. There are not many connecting flights.Â
Since Delta left as a hub in 2013, Memphis has added Southwest, Frontier, Allegiant, Air Canada, Vacation Express, and will soon be joined by Via Airlines later this year. One of the positives in bringing in more competition and some of the low-cost airlines is that the average price of airfare has decreased drastically. Taking inflation into account, the average ticket price has decreased by $170 since 2012.
Despite the aforementioned positive trends, passengers still see many downsides to the airport.
Natalia Cabrera travels from Florida to Memphis every couple of months to visit her boyfriend, who is enrolled at the UofM. Travel time is a huge factor for Cabrera because she gets limited time off and can only come to Memphis on weekends.
“Once a day, Southwest runs a direct flight from Orlando to Memphis,†Cabrera said. “If that time doesn’t work for me on that particular day, then I have to connect through another major airport, making for a much longer travel time.â€
The airport is attempting to improve the travel experience for its Memphis passengers with a $219 million renovation of Concourse B.
The renovation is set to be complete by early 2021 and will be designed to give passengers more room to move. When completed, Concourse B will have higher ceilings to allow for more natural light, wider corridors, larger gate areas, new amenities, a children’s play area and a St. Jude lounge for traveling St. Jude patients.
The ongoing renovations appear to be affecting passengers in a negative way.
“I primarily fly Delta, and being crammed in Concourse A has not been the best of experiences,†Gregg said, in reference to the construction.
The Memphis International Airport remains a point of contention for locals. The airport is attempting to improve the customer experience but is struggling to do so without the demand for more flights.
