New Orleans / Extra Aircraft?

[OPNLguy]

I was told by a SWA agent today that SWA will basically closing down MSY and reopening much later in the future with only 6 flights. At first I thought she was wrong, but when you look at the city, no one lives there, no one works there, and no one can visit there. No need for flights there. I believe it. I hope MSY can come back strong, but down the road it looks. Just my thoughts..........

[post="297356"][/post]​

Latest word attributed to MSY Airport Director is that MSY is now open for freighters, and that the airport will be opened to passenger ops on September 15th. I'd take that with a big grain of salt, since that hasn't been mentioned yet on the www.flymsy.com site, nor has the existing NOTAM closing MSY to all but relief flights been cancelled and re-issued to reflect that freighters can now use it.

SWA had about 60 daily flights to MSY, and I'd guess it'll be 10-20 when it gets re-started. How fast MSY gets back to 60 flights (if ever) remains to be seen. There will be relief-related travel, but tourism-related travel will take lots longer to recover.

 

[mga707]

Latest word attributed to MSY Airport Director is that MSY is now open for freighters, and that the airport will be opened to passenger ops on September 15th.

AP report in today's local paper listed the reopening date as Sept 19, not 15.

 

[OPNLguy]

AP report in today's local paper listed the reopening date as Sept 19, not 15.

[post="298691"][/post]​

Only reporting was on the previously-mentioned www.flymsy.com website.

Various airlines had cancelled flights through certain dates, and while the 19th may be correct for a specific airline or two, the item below speaks for itself. I mean, it's not like the media has ever been WRONG about something...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- September 10, 2005; 2:30 p.m. --- The Louis
Armstrong New Orleans International Airport has set Tuesday, September 13 as the
date to re-open the Airport to scheduled passenger air service following the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina. Cargo Flights will resume immediately.
Armstrong International Airport has been operational since Tuesday, August 30 for
humanitarian relief flights and civilian and military rescue efforts. During the nearly 2
weeks since Katrina devastated the City and region, Armstrong International has seen a
flurry of activity with over 30,000 evacuees departing on flights provided by commercial
air carriers and the military. The peak day for departures was Saturday, September 3
with more than 10,000 people being evacuated on flights that day. This compares with
13,000 daily departing customers on an average day before the storm.
Armstrong International will resume operations in only a portion of the main terminal
building. All passenger flights will operate out of Concourses A and B initially.
Concourses C and D will continue to be utilized for the direct relief effort.
“We are extremely pleased to reopen Armstrong International to commercial air service,â€￾
stated Roy Williams, Director of Aviation. “Scheduled passenger and cargo service
enhances the Airport’s ability to support the City and region in its recovery.â€￾
The Airport’s efforts to resume scheduled service have been supported by the US Army
82nd Airborne (which is currently based at Armstrong International), the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), many state and
local emergency management and law enforcement agencies, most notably the
Jefferson Parish Sheriffs office, the Federal Emergency Management Administration
(FEMA) and all of its air carriers. This team has worked together to set the earliest
possible date for the resumption of service without compromising any of the many relief
efforts that are based out of Armstrong International.