New MSY Terminal opens (Nov 5, 2019) - experiences, logistics, etc.
 

Now that the new terminal is officially open, I thought it would be appropriate to have a new thread with a title that is more relevant for future use.

With that in mind, let me start the ball rolling with an item about the restaurants in the new terminal.

An article recently appeared in The Advocate & NOLA.com regarding the restaurants in the new terminal, with an emphasis on the local restaurants.

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_l...8c7242366.html

One particular paragraph has me curious:

“These local players lend their names, dishes and culinary ideas to the projects, while the national food service companies staff and operate them day-to-day. They also bring their expertise in working in airport settings.”

Does this mean that the local restaurants are merely licensing the usage of their name and the chefs are providing recipes, but not actually involved in the operation of the airport venues? I guess I can understand these scenarios, but, are they truly local restaurants, then? Does anyone have any good insight as to how these partnerships operate?

Thanks for doing that. If I might suggest a modification to the title (by asking moderators to update) to add the date of effectivity of the opening (e.g. November 5, 2019) since it is from that date the "New Terminal" actually opened.

Sadly, yup. And, no, they are not truly local restaurants since the folks working there are working for companies such as Sodexo and who are there not to provide ambiance but to sling food and serve it and clean up.

How do they operate? They license the name and some of the menu from those restaurants and hope that you don't notice that the folks who are preparing the food aren't the ones who developed the recipes in the first place nor established the culinary heritage of the name on the airport terminal storefront.

David

I posted on this topic on the jazzfest board:

In terms of food, while the options will be far better than before (it’s hard to imagine them being worse), one should not expect the quality to match the in-city locations. The brands are licensed from operators we know and love, but they’re still airport food outlets operated by airport food outlet operators (Aramark and Delaware North, I believe).

I’ve made a request to have a moderator add the date to the title. Thanks for that suggestion.

Both of you have confirmed my suspicions about the food outlets. However, I was just watching the local TV news and a reporter was interviewing Chef John Folse, who has Folse Market at the airport, and he was emphasizing the local nature of the cooking and food at the airport. Of course, he’s probably just being a good ambassador. Since this is my home airport and being a local, I’ve rarely had food at the old terminal and probably still won’t at the new terminal.

I’m watching the local TV news and, as of 7:45 this morning, traffic is flowing well at the Vets/Loyola intersection and passengers are having an easy time going through the TSA checkpoint.

Here is a link to an article in The Advocate newspaper with some helpful info & tips regarding the new terminal:

https://www.nola.com/news/traffic/ar...3bf6a95ee.html

I just arrived at MSY this morning. The new terminal looks great! Lots of glass and natural light. Very spacious. A variety of restaurants (while it is noted by others that these are run by a food services firm). When I got to baggage claim, the bags were already going round the carousel (note I was in the back of the plane). I had to wait about 10 seconds to grab my bag. Landing to the taxi queue took 20 minutes. Another 30 minutes and I was on Canal Street. There was a bit of traffic to get onto 10 but it was moving. There was a long line of traffic heading West on 10 to get off at MSY.
The only downside I encountered - the ladies' room soap dispensers weren't working yet so bottles of hand soap were on the counter. Not a deterrent to a positive overall impression!

The Advocate newspaper food critic seems impressed with the quality of the food (having trouble posting a link here for some reason).

I toured the space; it's really beautiful. There's a music stage (and a liquor store!) at baggage claim. Terminal A is small, no restaurants, but it's easy to hop over to B or C. Several dozen restaurant choices and bars. Most seats at the gates have outlets. There are water bottle stations and a pet poop area past security.

But anyone coming to the airport from the city is going to have to plan for more time until the freeway flyover is complete. You do have to get off I-10 and drive across surface streets, including the very busy Veterans Blvd. Once you're on the airport grounds, however, it's quite smooth.

Five accidents at the I-10 West/Loyola exit today.

https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/l...a-b4fce73e76b9

Excited to make my first trip to the new MSY. Fly there about 10-12 times a year and the old terminal, especially the AA gates in Concourse , was always a nightmare.

I also was a very frequent user of the AA gates on concourse C. While I understand your excitement about the new terminal, I don’t understand your “always a nightmare” comment. It was ugly and there were no amenities to speak of, but still I arrived, got on a plane, and flew to my destination. I never had any experience I would term a nightmare (although I was always disappointed when Tyrone wasn’t working my gate; that’s as close as I came).

Same for me. To be honest I was fine with the old terminal, since it never took me more than 5 minutes to get from the curb to the gate (no checked bags, PreCheck, never needed to eat there). I’ve already heard that the PreCheck line at the new MSY is substantially longer than before, which is a disappointment. That said, the new terminal is beautiful so I’m not going to complain about it until I’ve actually flown through it!

The only nightmare aspect of the old terminal was the occasional complete clusterf*** of traffic getting in and out that sometimes occurred (for no apparent reason). Once when I went to pick up my parents there it took me 45 minutes to get from the cell phone lot to the arrivals lane...and then another 35 minutes to get from there back to I-10.

Traffic is a bit of a mess already, but maybe the improvements to lane designations (exiting the airport to get back onto I-10E) will help. I’m not optimistic about the backup and accident-prone nature of the exit from I-10W to Loyola, though. In typical local fashion there are apparently a lot of people waiting until the last possible second to jam their way into the line of traffic stacked up in the exit lane—five accidents just yesterday. It would be nice if they could put a physical barrier (like a row of those little poles) as you get closer to the actual exit, so drivers would have to line up like civilized people.

It's more about the complete lack of anything to eat or finding a place to sit. Also, at times, the restrooms in the concourse would be to the point of flooding not to mention the complete cluster when trying to board multiple flights from the ends of the finger piers, especially when the BA flight is in.

Louisiana Dept. of Transportation would never hire you. Too much common sense. Besides, the people driving those huge a** pickup trucks would probably drive over those poles. :D

Are any of the airline lounges open yet?