MIDDLE TENNESSEE (WGNS) - There’s something about air travel that still feels magical. If you’ve lived long enough to remember when families made a day trip out of going to the airport, you know exactly what I mean. I can still picture those regular visits to the old Berry Field Airport—standing by the windows watching planes glide in, then heading to the terminal restaurant for a hamburger that somehow tasted better simply because you were eating it at the airport.

That same airport—now Nashville International Airport, or BNA—just earned a major national nod. In January 2026, a month when winter storms snarled travel across the country, BNA ranked second-best in the entire United States for the fewest flight disruptions. That’s according to AirHelp, a company that tracks air passenger rights and compiles data on cancellations, delays, overbookings, and lost or damaged luggage.

And January wasn’t exactly a gentle month. A major snowstorm early on triggered more than 11,000 flight cancellations nationwide. But BNA kept moving.

For those of us who still think of it as our “hometown airport,” it’s nice to see it shine.

THE TOP 10 BEST AIRPORTS FOR FEWEST DISRUPTIONS (JANUARY 2026)

1. Salt Lake City International – 37.3% disrupted

2. Nashville International (BNA) – 41.8% disrupted

3. Denver International – 42.6%

4. Phoenix Sky Harbor – 43.9%

5. Harry Reid International – 44.5%

6. Los Angeles International – 46.5%

7. San Diego International – 46.5%

8. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson – 46.5%

9. Seattle-Tacoma – 46.8%

10. Miami International – 48.0%

THE 10 WORST AIRPORTS FOR DISRUPTIONS

1. Detroit Metro – 62.3%

2. Chicago O’Hare – 61.7%

3. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood – 60.0%

4. Newark Liberty – 58.3%

5. New York LaGuardia – 57.5%

6. Dallas/Fort Worth – 56.6%

7. Ronald Reagan National – 56.1%

8. Minneapolis–St. Paul – 52.4%

9. Charlotte Douglas – 52.2%

10. Philadelphia International – 51.5%

BACK WHEN AIR TRAVEL WAS SIMPLE

Talking about airports always brings back memories of Berry Field’s early days. The old terminal sat in that wedge between Murfreesboro Road and Donelson Pike, across from the long-gone Central State Hospital. You didn’t go through security. You didn’t take off your shoes. You simply walked out onto the tarmac and greeted friends as they stepped off the plane.

Life really was simpler.

Berry Field itself was named for Col. Harry S. Berry, Tennessee’s Works Progress Administration administrator. He oversaw major WPA projects across the state, including the construction of the airport, which opened on November 1, 1936. And yes—the “B” in BNA still honors him.

MURFREESBORO’S OWN AVIATION STORY

Here at home, Murfreesboro Municipal Airport was dedicated in 1952. It wasn’t the modern facility we know today—just a modest building in roughly the same spot. But aviation in Murfreesboro goes back even further.

Before the municipal airport, Middle Tennessee State College (yes, that was the name at the time) operated an airstrip in the early 1940s for its flight training program. And that’s just one chapter in the school’s long history of name changes:

• 1911–1925: Middle Tennessee State Normal School

• 1925–1943: Middle Tennessee State Teachers College

• 1943–1965: Middle Tennessee State College

• 1965–present: Middle Tennessee State University

Through all those changes, the campus stayed rooted right here in Murfreesboro.

SKY HARBOR: RUTHERFORD COUNTY’S FIRST AIRPORT

Long before Berry Field opened in Nashville, Rutherford County already had a commercial airport. Sky Harbor, located along the Old Nashville Highway, opened in 1929—seven years ahead of Nashville’s airport.

It was built to support the growing U.S. Air Mail system and quickly became a magnet for early aviation legends. Jimmy Doolittle stopped there. So did Will Rogers, who even mentioned it in his diary after a 1933 visit. 

SEWART AIR FORCE BASE: A WARTIME GIANT

Rutherford County’s second major aviation landmark rose in Smyrna. The War Department ordered construction of Smyrna Army Airfield on December 22, 1941—just weeks after the U.S. entered WWII. In a matter of months, 6,000 workers built 200 buildings and a full airfield.

Its mission was clear: train heavy bomber pilots for the war. Cadets learned to fly the B‑17 Flying Fortress and the B‑24 Liberator as part of the Army Air Forces’ Specialized 4‑Engine School.

The location wasn’t random. Rutherford County’s flat land made long runways possible, and Middle Tennessee’s terrain resembled parts of Western Europe—something Gen. George Patton recognized when he held maneuvers here in 1941.

After the war, the base briefly went quiet, then reactivated in 1948. In 1950, it was renamed Sewart Air Force Base in honor of Nashville aviator Allan J. Sewart Jr., who was killed in the Solomon Islands in 1942.

Sewart remained a major training center through WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, home to the 64th Troop Carrier/Tactical Airlift Wing and aircraft like the C‑130 Hercules. When it closed in 1971, many feared Smyrna’s future was sealed. 

HOW A CLOSED AIR BASE HELPED LAND NISSAN

But Tennessee has a way of reinventing itself. In 1980, state and local leaders secured a deal that changed everything: Nissan chose Smyrna for its first U.S. manufacturing plant.

The former Sewart Air Force Base was a huge selling point—thousands of flat, developable acres with roads, utilities, and infrastructure already in place. Add in a skilled workforce and a prime distribution location, and the site practically sold itself.

The plant opened in 1983, but the turning point came in 1980. It remains one of the most important economic wins in Tennessee history.

Before we close this stroll down "memory lane", that BNA is that airport's CODE assigned by the Federal Aviation Administration. Airport codes almost never change, even when the airport’s name does. They’re like tattoos: once you’ve got one, you keep it. BNA is Nashville's code, and as mentioned the B is for Berry.  Murfreesboro airport's code is MBT and the Smyrna-Rutherford County Airport is MQY. Back when it was Sewart Air Force Base, military bases and training fields used a different system altogether.

Well, that gives you a trip through this area's Golden Age of Aviation (1920s through the early 1960s). 

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