NASHVILLE METROPOLITAN AIRPORT




An American Airlines 707 on the apron at Nashville in the early 1960s. American had Nashville's first jet service in 1961, on the New York-Nashville-Memphis-Dallas-Los Angeles route.

Nashville's Berry Field opened its new 146,000-square-foot passenger terminal in 1961, four years after construction began. The new building was a modern 'jet age' showpiece for Nashville, which had become an important stop on the southern transcontinental route for several major airlines.

The building was laid out in the shape of a bird, an intentional metaphor for flight. The bird's forked 'tail' fronted its landside edge, with the southern wing housing ticket offices and the north wing housing baggage reclaim. The bird's 'body' was crowned by a three-story office tower, with the main lobby, restaurant and departure lounge below. The 'head' of the bird was a landscaped rose garden surrounded on three sides by the airfield. This outdoor area replaced the traditional rooftop observation deck.

Designers set the terminal into a hill such that from the airside, it appeared to be only one story high. Passengers descended via escalator to the ground level, at the bottom of the hill, to claim their luggage and meet relatives.


The BNA terminal under construction in early 1961. The terminal is structurally complete, but work has not even begun on the parking lot or access roadway. The ancillary structure to the terminal's lower right is an air cargo facility. In the background, beyond the intersection of the two main runways, is the site of the present-day terminal complex.

The two boarding concourses formed the 'wings' of the bird. American, Piedmont and Delta operated from the southern concourse, while Eastern, Southern, and Braniff used the north concourse. The concourses were little more than enclosed hallways with doorways to the apron (individual holdrooms would not appear at each gate until the 1970s.) All boarding was done via airstairs.


The main lobby lounge area of the Nashville terminal as it looked in the 1960s.


A postcard of BNA shortly after it opened in 1961. Note the rose garden jutting out into the apron. Parked at the terminal are (from left to right): a Southern DC3, American 707 and American DC7.


A landside view of the BNA terminal in the 1960s, with the ticket wing in the foreground and the baggage wing at rear.

Throughout the 1960s traffic at the airport continued to grow. Allegheny and Ozark were granted routes into Nashville in the latter half of the decade. By 1970, the airport was processing more than a million passengers annually. In the early 1970s the concourses were widened and individual waiting areas were added to each gate.


An aerial view of BNA in April of 1972. The layout has not really changed since the building opened in 1961, although the concourses are now twice as wide, to accommodate the new departure lounges.

A new master plan released in 1973 called for extensive renovations to the existing terminal building, as well as land acquisition for a new terminal complex to open by the year 2000.

Work on a 40,000-square-foot expansion program got underway in 1975. When it was completed in 1978, the terminal building was had almost 190,000 square feet of usable space. The baggage claim wing was extended to the northwest and remodeled, replacing the relcaim shelves with five automated carousels. A new canopy was added to the front of the building, as were dedicated taxi/limo pickup and drop-off areas. The ticketing hall and main lobby were also modernized.

On the airside, jetway loading bridges were added to each of the gates. Passengers continued to use the ground-level departure lounges, then climbed via stair towers to each jetbridge. "Hammerhead" additions were constructed at the end of each concourse, adding eight gates for a total of 20 jetway-equipped gates. Delta and Piedmont moved into the "hammerhead" on the south concourse, freeing up more space for American, BNA's dominant carrier. Ozark and Southern took over the northern "hammerhead."


The interior of BNA's concourse areas as they looked in the mid- to late 1970s. The photo on the right shows one of Eastern's gates on the north concourse.


BNA's landside in the late 1970s. The new passenger canopy can be seen. One of the new elevated jetways is also visible at the upper left, attached to one of the new stair towers.

Deregulation sent a flood of new-entrant carriers into Nashville. By the early 1980s, there were five new airlines operating at BNA: United, TWA, Florida Express, Pan Am and People Express. Allegheny changed its name to USAir in 1979, the same year that Southern merged with North Central Airlines to form Republic. Braniff ceased operations in 1982; its gates were quickly doled out to the new carriers.

The sudden spike in operations overwhelmed the terminal building. The ticket wing filled up, forcing People Express to set up shop in the baggage claim area in 1984. Airport officials accelerated the 1973 master plan and started construction on the new terminal building immediately. It was targeted for a 1987-1988 opening date.


A Delta 737-200 parked at the south concourse "hammerhead" in 1984. This photo was taken from the old control tower adjacent to the south apron. Photo by John P. Stewart


A diagram of the Nashville terminal as it looked in 1986. Interim improvements would be made to the building shortly after this map was published. Courtesy of Tom Moore

In early 1986, American Airlines designated Nashville as its newest connecting hub. Although airport officials modified the design of the new terminal building to meet American's needs, the airline announced it would open the hub immediately. The airline made more than $2 million worth of interim improvements to the existing terminal to help get the hub off the ground. The hub opened April 18, 1986, with 61 daily jet flights (in six 'waves') and 35 American Eagle commuter flights.

The rose garden area was removed to make way for a new finger with three jetway gates and a large holdroom area for American. Commuter passengers on American Eagle also used this holdroom, but took buses to a new remote apron where the Eagle aircraft parked. American also reconfigured its existing three gates on the south concourse, making room for three more jetbridges. The two security checkpoints (one for each concourse) were consolidated to a single main checkpoint, allowing American passengers to connect between flights.

At the same time, low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines inaugurated Nashville service, with flights beginning March 18, 1986. Southwest was able to acquire a former Braniff gate for its flights to Houston and Chicago, but was unable to secure ticket counter space in the main terminal. Consequently, the airline spent $165,000 to remodel the adjacent air cargo building into its own ticketing facility. Florida Express and People Express moved into the annex as well, allowing American to expand its ticket counters in the main building.


A map showing the improvements made to the BNA terminal during 1985-1986. American's new center pier can be seen, as well as the new south concourse gates and Southwest ticketing annex.
These photos reprinted from Airport World magazine


The curbside of Southwest's new annex as it looked in 1986. This was formerly an air cargo building. Passengers checked in at the annex, then walked to the main building to board their flights. Southwest passengers claimed their luggage at the main terminal as well.


The entrance to American's three gates on the new central finger in 1986. These doors formerly opened up to the outdoor rose garden. Note the American transfer desk at right.

In 1987, just before the new terminal opened, the 1961 building was operating at capacity. American occupied the center finger and six gates on the south concourse for its hub operation. Pan Am used an American gate. Delta, Piedmont and United also used the south concourse "hammerhead." Eastern, Florida Express, TWA, USAir, Southwest, People Express and Northwest used the north concourse.


A detailed diagram (left) and bird's-eye view (right) of the BNA terminal just before it closed in 1987, with all interim improvements complete.
From the Airport Pocket Guide courtesy of Tom Moore

The new Nashville terminal was opened ahead of schedule in late 1987. An airport study on the old terminal recommended using the site for aviation support facilities; the building was razed in stages between 1989 and 1990. Today the site has been partially built over with hangars and fixed base operators, although the outline of much of the old terminal can still be seen. The terminal access road and infield parking lot are also still in use.


A satellite view of the old BNA site in 2000. The outline of the south concourse and Southwest ticketing annex can be seen, along with the old parking lots. No part of the old terminal's structure was left standing, however.

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