FLYMSY

Jefferson Parish Council gives Kenner P.D. $50k to help with traffic congestion.

https://www.wdsu.com/article/jeffers...stion/29567515

Also, I received a letter recently that stated that The Louisiana Dept. of Transportation is having an Open House Public Meeting on October 29 from 5:00-7:00 P.M. at the Susan Park Gymnasium, 502 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Kenner.

Attendees will be able discuss and ask questions of the LADOTD representatives and the project team regarding the new I-10/Loyola Dr. interchange leading to the Airport.

kale73

I'm contemplating a trip in early December. Not sure yet if I should be excited or anxious about the new terminal.

MSYtoJFKagain

I'll be there within the first two weeks of it opening for a quick Thanksgiving trip.

I'll report back.

FlyinHawaiian

I'm flying out of MSY on Sunday November 3, so will be departing out of the old terminal. Do I need to be worried about any additional traffic in the area? I was thinking about leaving the CBD around 11 am for a 12:30 pm departure (I have PreCheck and won't be checking luggage); does that sound about right?

Thanks.

swag

Traffic should be normally light (no Saints game). Leaving at 11 should be fine if you're taking a cab or Uber. Maybe add a few extra minutes to return a rental car.

FLYMSY

Just received an e-mail from The New MSY a few minutes ago (see below). My wife and I were scheduled for the 11:00 AM tour today, Saturday. However, due to the effects from T.S. Olga, things have been pushed back for later today.


“A Message from The New MSY:

Due to weather-related power outages impacting the Kenner area and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), the Open House event scheduled to take place at the new MSY terminal has been postponed until 1 p.m. Individuals who registered to attend the Open House at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon are encouraged to come at any time between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.


Although the new terminal did not experience a loss of commercial Entergy power, airport officials have postponed the event in order to focus resources on managing the power outage issue at the existing terminal.”

FLYMSY

Well, I was trying to be optimistic when going out to the Open House at the new terminal today. Better luck next time.

We went out there at 1:00 this afternoon, driving on Veterans Blvd. towards Loyola Drive. When we got to the intersection of Vets and Loyola, the State Police had the entire intersection blocked off!!! Why, you might ask??? Because a work crew was FREAKIN’ black topping the whole intersection!!! What a major (I’ll be nice and polite here) SCREW-UP!! I can’t believe this roadwork was scheduled at this intersection at the same time as the Open House. BRILLIANT!

I was forced to make a right turn onto Loyola, in the direction of I-10. When I made the turn, I saw the traffic on the other side of Loyola backed up all the way to I-10. IF, I wanted to attempt to get to the airport access road, I would have to attempt a U-turn to get on the other, already backed up, side of Loyola. Then, when I got back to the intersection with Veterans, I would have been forced into another right turn onto Veterans, headed away from the airport. At some point, I would have had to make another U-turn to get on the other side of Veterans to head back towards the airport. I don’t know if I would have, at that point, been able to get on the airport access road, because it looked like part of the access road was being paved, also. I did not have the patience to get caught up in all of the traffic nightmare and just went back home. Sorry for the convoluted description of the traffic, but those who live here will understand, I think.

This just confirms, at least, in my mind, that if there is ever a traffic accident in the area of I-10, Loyola and Veterans, people are going to be royally screwed (politeness, again) in trying to get to the airport. Whoever thought that having only one way into the airport was a good idea should be sentenced to a lifetime of TSA enhanced body searches. Oh, wait. What am I talking about? I remember now. The one access road is because of national security.

I have a flight scheduled for 11/11. Hopefully, I’ll get to experience the new terminal then.

By the way, there was a second power outage at the old terminal today. Feel sorry for all those people that had flights in and out of MSY today.

travelmad478

I did get out to the new terminal today for my 2 PM visit time—after having spent a full 35 minutes just trying to get from the Loyola Ave. exit ramp to the other side of Vets. Probably due to the same power outages that affected MSY’s operations today, all of the traffic lights were out throughout the three intersections I had to go through: the one at the bottom of the exit ramp, the ones just after you go under I-10 to cross the I-10 access road going eastbound, and the Loyola-Vets intersection. And, of course, that work crew was there at the same time spraying asphalt onto the intersection of Vets and Loyola. Chaos, predictably, ensued. No police were directing traffic at the first two intersections, and the only thing the cops were there doing was waving people (like you, FLYMSY) past the Loyola-Vets intersection and into the netherworld of westbound Vets. Somehow I ended up stuck there until the asphalt truck slowly wheezed past on Vets, and then they started letting people go through. So I did actually make it to the terminal, finally. (Report to follow.)

I assume that the lights will actually be working on Nov. 6. But around here you can never be sure.

The power was on in the new terminal...just not the one where flights were supposed to be taking off and landing

travelmad478

I strolled through the terminal and walked down the A and B gate corridors, the ticketing area, baggage claim, and the departure and arrival transportation zones. All extremely spacious. There are an astonishing number of restaurants, mostly outposts of high-quality local places, which I like. Given the traffic problems that are likely to occur here, I will probably end up spending more time at the airport than I ever have before, so at least there will be good food to eat there.

It will be a longer walk from security to most gates than at the current terminal, but on the plus side, there is only one security point for all three gate piers, so you have a very broad choice of places to wander if you have time to kill. The B and C gates start fairly close to security, but the piers are long and the gates spaced far apart. The A pier is something of a haul (this is where international flights will leave from and arrive to).

I know this is of paramount importance to FTers but I regret to say that I did not notice a single sign for a lounge. (This may be due to the fact that the lounge I would use, an Admirals Club, does not exist at MSY and so I didn’t even look for it). There is something called Club MSY but I didn’t see the UA or DL lounges as I walked around. They may be in the C pier, which I did not visit.

The short-term parking garage is quite large, probably larger than it needs to be given how expensive short-term parking will be ($22/day). The cheapest parking will be back at the old MSY garage, $12/day with shuttle service. Even the surface lot, the cheapest walk-to option, is $18/day, which seems high to me.

Here are way too many photos for your viewing pleasure:

Entering from the short-term garage connector into the ticketing area

Southwest is not ready to check you in...

...but apparently Delta is

Nice spacious departure drop-off area

PreCheck to the right, losers to the left

I was told that 15 security lanes would be in place as of Nov. 6. Let’s see how many of them will actually be staffed...

The boards were working at the new MSY...too bad the old MSY was mostly shut down due to a power outage today

Thank God, at least you will be able to buy Saints memorabilia right away

A giant LED display is not ready yet, but it will be enormous

Gates still being outfitted

Gelato case at Angelo Brocato is ready for action

Lots of water bottle fillers, a nice touch

More display screens not ready to display

View from gate level down to the baggage claim and transportation level, complete with a stage for local music to listen to while you’re waiting for your bags

Baggage claim area appears ready for action...now let’s just get some flights to land (note the scheduled vs. ETA)

Thank God, there will be a lot more parking spots, although the bulk of them will be a long bus ride away

This is interesting. I wonder if it will work smoothly. Since I do not check bags anyway, I won’t be testing it out, but I’d be interested to know if it works as advertised

The best part: Sunpie Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots were playing this afternoon! (The downside: no one to dance with)

FLYMSY

Thanks for the detailed report, travelmad478. Good job. ^ I’m glad to see that someone had more persistence and patience than I did.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I’ll get to experience the new terminal on 11/11.

ASDwxguy

Found out some info about the United club. It will not be finished by the opening date next week. They are replacing the tile work after it was removed due to the plumbing issues discovered over the Summer. The goal is to have it open by December, but January may be a more likely date according to UA employees. The independent lounge, The Club at MSY, is confirmed as a January opening date.

jg70124

Ms JG and I are flying on 11/7, mid-day. We usually leave Lake Vista just 45-60 minutes before boarding, but I think we'll add some more time that day. Is there any information about which airlines will be using which gates?

swag

As planned last December:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/previe...-new-terminal/

swag

Updates today.

RTA posted to Facebook that the 202 will continue to run, with the same schedule, with a single airport stop at the new terminal.

Jefferson Transit announced that the E2 will no longer serve the airport. Instead the E1-Veterans will serve the airport, with some buses going to the Cemeteries Transit Center, and others running down Canal St from City Park Ave to Magazine St (with a temporary detour onto Poydras for the Hard Rock closures). The Canal buses will stop at major cross streets..

https://jeffersontransit.org/wp-cont...ith-detour.pdf

swag

Just got this in a press release sent by email.

So arrivals tomorrow night into both terminals. That sounds like a real mess.