MSY Offers Incentives For New Routes

The combination of fewer tourists, less business and convention traffic and a smaller home population continues to spell trouble for Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, two years after that city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

USA Today reports departures at MSY in July were 24 percent lower than those in July 2005, the last full month before the August 29 storm battered the city. Southwest Airlines, the airport's largest carrier, is only flying about half the flights to and from New Orleans it did in 2005.

MSY Deputy Director Maggie Woodruff says the airport projects service to return to about 90 percent of pre-Katrina levels by the end of 2008. To attract new business, the airport is offering to waive landing fees for up to 12 months for flights to new cities... and cutting its per-passenger charge for airlines hitting the airport's growth targets.

It is still an uphill battle. To date, only three airlines -- AirTran, Continental, and American -- have rebuilt their service to near-2005 levels. Regional carrier ExpressJet has started service at the airport; the Houston-based airline previously flew to MSY as Continental Express.

Airlines have reduced the number of seats available at MSY by about 32 percent from two years ago... which is in line with drops in the city's tourist and resident populations. According to the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, the number of leisure travelers visiting The Big Easy is running at about 60 percent of pre-Katrina levels.

Many believe only two-thirds the number of pre-storm residents returned to New Orleans after Katrina, although exact numbers are tough to come by.

Fewer flights also mean fewer cities served from MSY. Since August 2005, the airport has lost service to Indianapolis, Oakland, San Francisco and Toronto, among other cities; the city gained non-stop service to Austin and San Antonio.

Business travelers have also shied away from the city; as ANN reported, Microsoft had to cancel three conventions planned for New Orleans this year, due to the lack of airline service.

The National Business Aviation Association -- which scrambled to relocate its 2005 convention to Orlando following the hurricane -- announced in April it would also move its planned 2008 convention from New Orleans, although according to NBAA President Ed Bolen that wasn't MSY's fault; rather, conditions at New Orleans Lakefront Airport (NEW), where aircraft static displays would be located, haven't improved sufficiently to support the displays.

MSY has enlisted the help of aviation consultant Michael Boyd to attract new service. He says the airport is "doing everything it can" to build service back to its former glory.

"When the city shut down, the airlines had to reallocate (their planes), and they can't just put them back in," Boyd told USA Today. "It's happening now, but just not happening as fast as it can."

FMI: www.flymsy.com/