Southwest Airlines Is Spending $53 Million On A Lounge Without A First Class Cabin To Fund It

Southwest Airlines is about to do something that would have seemed almost unthinkable a few years ago – build a network of airport lounges aimed at travelers willing to pay more for a better ground experience. Perhaps the most striking example is Nashville International Airport (BNA), where the airline has secured a permit for a roughly 30,000-square-foot lounge with a reported $53 million construction and fit-out cost.