35 replies to this topic

[tennis1400]

Im sure these people know what they are doing! I just never realized those things were that expensive!

[SlidellWX]

We've also got to remember that not everyone landing at MSY will be heading to the French Quarter.  Several people may be heading to Houma or Baton Rouge or the Northshore or Lafayette or McComb, MS or the MS Gulf Coast...etc.  You need a rental car to get to these locations.   MSY is by far the most dominant airport within a 3 hour drive of New Orleans.  I think a rental car facility is a great thing for the airport.

[NCB]

That's a great point, Slidell. MSY is most definately the central airport of the Gulf South, so a new car rental facility would certainly serve passengers who are headed to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Alabama to gamble and enjoy the beach, along with anyone headed over to Baton Rouge or Lafayette.

I was also very suprised by the expected cost of this facility, but after some mixed feelings, I like this development. I agree with tennreb in that it would be great to see this type of money go towards refurbishing much of the airport, but if this type of facility truly is needed and desired by many, then I'm all for it.

[NCB]

Armstrong Intl passenger count climbs 17 percent
New Orleans CityBusiness

Quote

NEW ORLEANS - Passenger totals were up 17 percent in January, to 671,703 from 574,222 the same month last year, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport said today.

Excellent news coming out of Armstrong! Seeing passanger travel near 2004 pre-Katrina levels, even with less flights, is great. According to the article, freight totals are up at the airport as well.  

[blackcoat]

More details were released today about the aforementioned rental car parking garage.  Bonds issued for the expansion will be paid for by a fee added to the price of each car rental.  Construction would 2010 or 2011 with a completion date some time in 2012.

[JPKneworleans]

GREAT NEWS.  NOW, let's get back a nonstop to San Francisco!

JetBlue launches nonstop service from N.O. to Boston


NEW ORLEANS – JetBlue Airways on Thursday will begin the only daily nonstop service between New Orleans and Boston, expanding the company's presence at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

The new service to Boston’s Logan International Airport brings to four the company's number of daily, low-fare departures from New Orleans; fares start at $114 each way.

The daily service to Boston will operate aboard the airline’s Embraer 190 aircraft, a 100-seat jet.

“This summer we’re celebrating seven years of low-fare service to New Orleans by adding another destination for our loyal local customers,” said Marty St. George, JetBlue’s vice president of network planning.

Edited by JPKneworleans, 30 April 2008 - 07:09 PM.

[tennis1400]

Awesome News! I lover Jet Blue! I may just have to make a little trek up to Boston for the heck of it!

[blackcoat]

The Louisiana House Transportation Committee approved Representative Jim Tucker's (R-Algiers) bill to create the Southeast Regional Airport Authority. This is part of a plan to give the state control over Louis Armstrong International Airport in exchange for funding larger public projects. The bill will head to the full House for debate.  In the meantime, you can read the full text of HB 1272, the "Southeast Regional Airport Act", and if you want to skip the legalese, go straight to the Digest.

Edited by blackcoat, 12 May 2008 - 01:40 PM.

[djp4lsu]

blackcoat, on May 12 2008, 01:22 PM, said:

The Louisiana House Transportation Committee approved Representative Jim Tucker's (R-Algiers) bill to create the Southeast Regional Airport Authority. This is part of a plan to give the state control over Louis Armstrong International Airport in exchange for funding larger public projects. The bill will head to the full House for debate.  In the meantime, you can read the full text of HB 1272, the "Southeast Regional Airport Act", and if you want to skip the legalese, go straight to the Digest.

I've been trying to think of a downside to this deal, other than a loss of control for the city of New Orleans, but I haven't had much luck. The airport gets bigger and better, and the City gets lots of money which can be used for matches for federal funding or for projects in its own right. I guess it might put talk of a new airport close to New Orleans to bed for awhile at least, but it sounds good all the way around. Am I missing something?

[tennis1400]

I tend to like it as well! The airport now isnt very great so I dont think there is much to be lost! And part of the problem with the vendors in the airport is how everyone is trying to get there hands in the pot! There are so many things to be improved! It may not solve things by changing hands, but it certainly isnt working well as is! So lets give this a shot!

[JPKneworleans]

I can think of a downside.  More representation by Kenner and/or St. Charles Parish could block a new runway.  However, making the airport a truly regional airport would be a huge and symbolic step toward regional government, which we are lacking.  Hell, the RTA isn't even regional.  It's supposed to be, but RTA busses run in Orleans only (with a few exceptions for park and ride, I think).

If the city gets the money from the sale, I hope the state law requires a committee of ethical people to be in charge of disbursing the money on projects that are deemed most vital from a cost-benefit standpoint.  I can think of several ethical and known people who could be on the committee: Stacey Head, Arnie Fielkow, Ruthie Frierson, Karen Carter, LaToya Cantrell (president and miracle worker of Broodmoor Improvement Association), and maybe Ron Foreman, among others.

The last thing we need is some mayoral committee choosing projects and rigging the bid specifications so that only one bidder can meet the qualifications.  (Case in point:  recent RFP by S&WB regarding pumps).  A specific brand of pump was specified, and a single, well-connected company just happens to have the exclusive distributorship in Louisiana.  The company charged double what similar pumps cost and nearly double the amount charged for the same brand/make/model of the pump priced out in Texas..

A half billion dollars can go a LONG way...as long as City Hall cronies are not involved.

This is just my opinion.

[blackcoat]

As far as whether or not this plan is a good idea, the devil is in the details.  The New Orleans City Council is wary about the airport transfer largely because of its lack of details.  HB 1272 only creates the Southeast Regional Airport Authority, but does not say anything of the portion of the plan involving 500 million dollars of state funding for projects in New Orleans.

[NCB]

Southwest is adding three new nonstop's to MSY:

• August- A new daily nonstop to Denver
  
• October- A new daily nonstop to Orlando (5 flights between the two cities)
  
• Fall '08- A new daily nonstop to Birmingham (3 flights between the two cities)

Quote

In a press release, the carrier said that "through the elimination of 39 existing round-trip flights from its current flight schedule, (Southwest CEO Gary) Kelly said Southwest today has added 46 new round-trip flights in key growth market cities such as Denver and New Orleans."

USA Today

Times-Picayune

[NCB]

Some good news for Armstrong International:


Photo courtesy of Parsons


Passenger counts up at N.O. airport
According to figures released by the airport Monday, the total number of departing passengers rose 11.4 percent to 355,368 from 318,960. The year-to-date figure is 2,153,100, up 13.9 percent from 1,889,601 in the same period last year.

The number of passengers getting off a plane in New Orleans rose to 359,787 in June, an increase of 12.7 percent from 319,301 in June 2007. The year-to-date figure is 2,140,205, an increase of 14.1 percent over 1,876,185 in the same period last year.

New Orleans CityBusiness

Based on the stats from the first six months of the year, Armstrong International is on track to serve about 8.6 million passengers in 2008, up from 7.5 million in 2007 and 5.9 million in 2006. Armstrong's all time high came in 2004, when the airport served over 9.7 million passengers. Much like the rest of the area, the airport's recovery started off slowly, but has accelerated very quickly over the past couple of years. If Armstrong Int'l gets near that 8.6 million passangers served figure, it will be a 34% increase over the number of passengers it served in 2006 following Katrina.

[SlidellWX]

Very impressive growth.  It has to be the fastest in the country on a year over year basis.

[SUSAstudent]

tennis1400, on 29 February 2008 - 12:30 AM, said:

Im sure these people know what they are doing! I just never realized those things were that expensive!

So the new information is that the city is planning a $775M renovation to Louis Armstrong. Does anyone have any renderings or idea of what the airport will look like.... and for such a substantial amount of money, can't they just build another? lol