New Orleans Facts

Getting Easier to Fly to New Orleans

Getting to New Orleans will get easier this Fall with Delta, American and Southwest all bringing more flights to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to serve the growing number of conventioneers.

The airport will have 126 daily flight departures in October with 14,701 seats available in the market. This equates to 77.8 percent of the pre-Katrina flights and 71.1 percent of the pre-Katrina seats.

New Orleans Airport traffic comeback better than expected

The director of aviation at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport said progress at the airport by the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is exceeding expectations. Currently the airport is serving 88 percent of destinations served prior to Katrina. And in November, Southwest is adding 8 more daily flights.

Revisiting a Great Idea

Almost a year ago, we had the idea to start a blog as a place to put the real facts about Post-Katrina New Orleans out there for everyone to see. Then we got busy and lost sight of the project. Now, in 2007, we're revisiting it.

Check back soon. We're hoping to find a few folks to help with key analysis in the areas of Air Travel, Crime/Safety, Hotel Stats, and Population Studies. They'll provide independent, third-party breakdowns of key information that many folks want to know about. Then, they'll post it here where anyone can find it and anyone can comment.

We think it will help non-New Orleanians understand what's real and what's not when it comes to Post-Katina New Orleans. Let us know what you think of our effort.

The Southwest Effect - a re-post from 2006

Our test blog disappeared so we are reposting this -- our first post from Nov 2006.

At first glance, the September 2006 flight ops data located on the MSY Airport Site site would suggest that New Orleans continues to suffer at the hands of Hurricane Katrina. We currently have 105 daily departures or just over 65% of our Pre-Katrina level of flight operations. But a closer look at the data tells a different story.

Over 50% of the reduction in both cities served non-stop AND total seats available are the result of Southwest Airline's reduction of service. Unfortunately, Southwest can't easily put that service back into the New Orleans market because those planes are now flying in and out of Southwest's new Denver hub.

The good news is that Southwest plans to take delivery of 33 planes in 2006. This may provide the necessary equipment to replenish their service in New Orleans.