Question about MSY (New Orleans) Airport

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by dtradin

I stayed in some Gaylord Texan place last night and it's like a redneck theme park inside with fake trees and boulders and streams all with country tunes playing in the giant fake western hell.

DFW and ATL have 10 times the traffic and they're major hubs. NOLA is an end destination. DFW and even ORL are much busier and NOLA has nowhere near the traffic.

Also, I think the fact that 6.5 years ago there was something called Katrina that put basic survival of the city at the forefront might have sidetracked the city's ability and attention from turning MSY into a Disney Airport.

Perhaps.

Originally Posted by dtradin

I'm here to look at a hotel model that a client needs built in other areas and spent the last 2 days looking around the DFW airport at infrastructure improvements that are in the multiple billions of dollars. This place is in the middle of the country and hellish or not it's a stop over. NOLA is not. NOLA is at a dead end and there's no way with the expense and stress put on the city from Katrina that I think it would have been reasonable previously to drop billions on the airport. It's really too bad, but when you're facing hundreds of dead schools, collapsing roads and everything NOLA has had to deal with since Katrina, I'm thinking a functional airport is simply one of the prices you've got to pay when you prioritize limited money.

i've stayed at that Gaylord place, and it reminded me of an oversized Bass Pro Shop with rooms.


as to the rest of your points, i'm not necessarily criticizing the City or anyone else for the things that the airport is lacking-- speaking only for myself, i was just pointing out some observations i've made over the years-- however, i don't think that the lack of foresight in expanding/maintaining the airport is something that you can lay at the feet of Katrina; as others have mentioned, there was plenty of time before then that plans could have at least been made to improve it.

[MLU]

The last time I checked, airport fees in BTR were much higher than in MSY and I've been to LAS. It's a much bigger ****hole than MSY. It permanently reeks of cigarettes despite smoking not having been allowed there for several years. Perhaps it's just that Vegas as a whole is a dump, but that was my impression every time I have been.

As for the money spent on MSY, it's usually from airport fees that can't be spent anywhere else. MSY is just poorly managed. A good Airport Authority will have projects going at an airport non-stop.

[jasonj]

Wasn't there some news recently that they were trying to revoke the food vendor contracts from the criminal that has been running the operation from jail? Hopefully they can do that and, I don't know, let people who are willing to put a little effort into the food bid on it. You know instead of just handing it over no-bid to one of your buddies.

[El Caliente]

When I was back in new Orleans in Dec. waiting on my flight I got a survey from one of the airport courtesy people, asking me what I would like to see in the airport, so thats nice that they are thinking of this while they are remodeling the airport. It probably wouldnt be a bad thing to have more wall jacks, maybe a few of those floor escalators for concourse C, and through the main side of the airport.

It just seems like so much more could be done to make the airport better.

[DaveXA]

Originally Posted by Jeff Miller

Its not the nicest airport i've seen, but its not the worst either. I would call it functional, but not fancy. I think the main "issue" with the airport is it is not a major hub for any airline. I can't fly to MSY directly from the west coast. I have to go through either Denver, Chicago, Salt Lake or Atlanta. With a major hub, there really isn't much of a reason for it to be more than it is, its pretty much just a glorified regional airport.

btw, the worst terminal i've ever seen, was Dullus in Washington DC. Course the Continental region terminal in Houston is pretty bad too.

Dulles is actually going through changes right now, and with the coming completion of the metro rail to the airport (2016) there already is and will continue to be a significant increase in investment in the area.

The airport is undergoing a number of significant changes and should be pretty impressive once all is said and done. They're adding a new terminal, several concourses and a fifth runway to accommodate more traffic.

Oh, and agreed on the IAH comment, that place is terrible.

[El Caliente]

It would be amazing to have a train going from downtown to the airport. Why hasn't that happened, or a train from the city to UNO/Lakefront?

[drob8785]

I imagine that the airport will feel a lot more modern once they consolidate service into two terminals (I think C and D).

The food and bar situation is an embarrassment, but that's something that is easily fixed.

I'd LOVE to see a light rail system from the airport to Union Passenger Terminal. It makes too much sense for it to happen though.

[iron error]

Vegas airport is nothing to brag about.

[TulsaSaint]

I don't think that the fact that New Orleans isn't a major hub is a reason to have a crappy airport. MCO also isn't a major hub (MIA is the big hub for Latin America-bound flights), and it's also basically at a dead-end even more than New Orleans. Yet the city still has a state of the art airport. RDU also isn't a hub, but they've just rebuilt one terminal and are in the middle of rebuilding the other.

Whether you're a hub or not, when you're a major tourist destination (or business/research destination in the case of RDU), you have no excuse not to have a modern airport. In fact, having a modern airport (and lowering the fees, improving management, etc.) could do a lot to make New Orleans a regional hub. There's no reason flights to Latin America and the Caribbean should go through IAH, ATL, or MIA, for example, instead of New Orleans. There's no reason the city shouldn't have direct flights to SFO, LAX, etc. and regional connecting flights to Jackson, Mobile, Pensacola, Shreveport, Alexandria, etc. But the completely inadequate airport keeps any of that from happening.

Like so many other infrastructure problems in Louisiana, I might add. At least you can finally drive on most interstate highways in the state without the ba-doom, ba-doom, ba-doom, ba-doom bumps every few feet from the pavement being laid down in sections with big cracks in between....

[JimEverett]

I guess the modal transportation center people had talked about building near Donaldsonville faded into oblivion?

Something like that is needed.
I sort of figured it would not happen once people in New Orleans and Baton Rouge figured out it would take traffic away from their airports.

[mb504]

Originally Posted by El Caliente

It would be amazing to have a train going from downtown to the airport. Why hasn't that happened

It's in Louisiana. Trains are for dirty liberals.

Originally Posted by El Caliente

or a train from the city to UNO/Lakefront?

There is a trend toward putting in new streetcar routes through the city lately, and I could definitely envision an Elysian Fields route from the river to the lake. Not sure if that's the kind of train you have in mind, but it could happen.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by Jeff Miller

Course the Continental region terminal in Houston is pretty bad too.

Originally Posted by DaveXA

Oh, and agreed on the IAH comment, that place is terrible.

what am i missing in re. to IAH? That's the airport i usually fly out of (Continental specifically) and i just don't see any difference, better or worse, between it and other airports i've gone through.. is it the fact that you usually have to walk a long way to get to your flight? I guess i don't mind that, since i can use the exercise.. And there are actually some decent food places there.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by JimEverett

I guess the modal transportation center people had talked about building near Donaldsonville faded into oblivion?

Something like that is needed.
I sort of figured it would not happen once people in New Orleans and Baton Rouge figured out it would take traffic away from their airports.

i too was wondering what happened to the proposed hub airport that was supposed to be built between NOLA and BR... But i always assumed that it was supposed to replace the NOLA and BR airports, and not compete with them.

[drob8785]

Originally Posted by JimEverett

I guess the modal transportation center people had talked about building near Donaldsonville faded into oblivion?

Something like that is needed.
I sort of figured it would not happen once people in New Orleans and Baton Rouge figured out it would take traffic away from their airports.

I wasn't a fan of the Donaldsonville proposal when it was floated a few years ago. It would have been what, 60-80 minutes to New Orleans? No thanks. I understand that the thinking was by having a regional airport serving 2 million people might be able to attract more airlines than the smaller city airports in BR and NOLA, but I think that benefit is outweighed by the distances (to both cities).

Maybe I'd consider it if there was a light rail system, like BWI has. But I'm a sucker for trains.

Originally Posted by mb504

There is a trend toward putting in new streetcar routes through the city lately, and I could definitely envision an Elysian Fields route from the river to the lake. Not sure if that's the kind of train you have in mind, but it could happen.

I once put together a map of the old streetcar routes in New Orleans circa 1926. It's crazy to think of what this city used to have, and how it all was torn up.

My favorite (because I'm a River Ridge boy) was the OK Line - which ran from Kenner to Canal Street down Jefferson Highway and Claiborne.

Lakeview/Gentilly were mostly swamp back in the 20s, but the lines did extend all the way down Canal to the Lake, then over onto Robert E Lee to what's now Lake Shore/Vista. There were also lines down Franklin and St Bernard, but they didn't reach to the lake.

[El Caliente]

Didn't nagin want to build an airport in a swamp between Laplace and Kenner or something? What a nutt bag.

drob, if you get a chance, scan and post those maps, that sounds cool. Why New Orleans doesn't have a train system across the city is beyond me. It would be so nice. The train systems in Chicago, NYC, and SLC from the city to the airport are great, and are more environmentally friendly than a cab, so its a win win.