The meetings -- two of which were scheduled to draw 14,000 attendees from around the world, and a third for about 2,000 people -- were Microsoft's first gatherings in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina and its only future dates in the city.

Microsoft spokeswoman Robyn Kratzer said the company worked closely with New Orleans to try to keep the meetings in town to support the city's recovery, but the Redmond, Wash., company ultimately concluded it would be too difficult for its employees and business associates to travel to New Orleans.

"Obviously we've made a very difficult decision to hold three of our annual conventions, which had been scheduled to take place in New Orleans, in other locations," Kratzer said. "It really came down to the airline service of the city. It was going to present some very challenging logistical problems."

Kratzer did not know where the meetings would be rescheduled.

The cancellation is a blow to the city's beleaguered convention business, once the bedrock for its tourism industry. Though some groups, such as November's 25,000-person meeting of the National Association of Realtors, have opted to proceed with their conventions, others have gotten skittish because of crime reports, the cost of event cancellation insurance or the lack of air service. Competitors have been ruthless in trying to lure meetings away, convention industry leaders say, forcing the city's convention sales force to work on defending existing bookings rather than soliciting new business down the road.

The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau declined to comment on the Microsoft loss, citing competitive pressures and a desire to focus on the future. "We just want to keep looking forward to the great long-standing relationship we've had with them for many years," spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig said.

Microsoft has been an important customer for the city in recent years and has held four meetings in New Orleans since 2002, several of them worldwide events attracting 14,000 people. The bookings represented an early success for the city in a new effort to try to broaden its convention appeal from association meetings and to corporate meetings to fill in gaps in its calendar of gatherings.

Corporate meetings are lucrative, have more stable attendance than industry association gatherings where attendees pay their own way, and are flexible because they are booked closer to the date they are held. As recently as last week, convention bureau President Stephen Perry said that for these reasons, corporate meetings were especially important for New Orleans in trying to rebuild its convention calendar.

But air service has proven to be a hurdle and was cited as a problem when New Orleans held its first major convention in June: the 18,000-person meeting of the American Library Association. New Orleans now has 61 percent of its pre-Katrina airline service operating from the Louis Armstrong International Airport.

The airport said it had heard that Microsoft had canceled because of flight service, but no one from the bureau or the company had asked the airport for help in retaining the convention.

"They never came to us and said, 'Microsoft has these concerns. What can you do?' " airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc said.

When other convention groups have had similar concerns about air service, the airport has been able to get involved and work with meeting planners to show what's being done, Duffourc said. In many cases it's helped.

In particular, Continental Airlines, the flight company that has had the strongest return since Katrina, has been willing to put larger aircraft on its routes or to schedule extra flights into New Orleans as special events warrant.

To work on the air service issue, airport and convention bureau officials conducted two days of meetings in September with top scheduling executives from Continental, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines to try to lobby for extra flights.

"It was all very positive about bringing more flights here," Duffourc said.

Microsoft said it will be watching for results. "We're looking forward to returning to New Orleans when airline service has returned to its original level," Kratzer said. From the Times Picayune, October 6, 2006

Betsy barely tested airport but Katrina did her worst

By Jaime Guillet Staff Writer
New Orleans City Business

2006-08-21 10:23 AM CST

NEW ORLEANS — If the walls of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport could talk, they would tell different tales about the airport’s role during hurricanes Katrina and Betsy.

The airport resumed air carrier service less than 24 hours after Betsy’s landfall and sustained only $500,000 in damage — all but $300 covered by insurance.

“We didn’t have too much trouble. I don’t think we ever even shut down,” said Paul Stoulig, secretary of the New Orleans Aviation Board during Betsy.

That is a stark contrast to Armstrong’s role during Katrina.

Despite more than $30 million in damage to the facility, the Armstrong staff helped 31 visiting doctors and nurses stranded at the airport to establish an emergency medical triage for people evacuated out of the Superdome, the Morial Convention Center and off rooftops. More than 30,000 people were evacuated to and processed through Armstrong by Sept. 11, 2005. More than 20 people died after being evacuated to Armstrong and there were multiple births.

During Katrina and its aftermath, Armstrong served as military encampment, hospital, morgue, Red Cross distribution center and residence for airport employees and emergency relief workers.

Armstrong Interim Aviation Director Sean Hunter was deputy director of operations and maintenance during Katrina. He said the biggest airport challenge was it was not designed as a shelter.

“Certainly it put a strain on our resources from a law enforcement standpoint, from an operational standpoint and from a facilities standpoint,” said Hunter. “Needless to say we came out of it OK but, certainly as it relates to the future, we’re designing plans now to meet that need if ever we need to again.” From CityBusiness, August 21, 2006

Passengers pour out the perfume

Friday, August 11, 2006
By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau

The thwarted plot to blow up passenger planes bound from Britain to the United States manifested itself Thursday at Louis Armstrong International Airport in trash bins teeming with water bottles, toothpaste tubes and yogurt cups.

But the lines to get through security checkpoints and onto planes, where almost all liquids and gels are newly banned, were only slightly longer than usual. No flights were canceled and no passengers missed flights because of the new security measures, said interim Aviation Director Sean Hunter.

"It's been pretty normal," he said. "There haven't really been any long delays."

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration banned liquids and gels from carry-on bags at 4 a.m., after British authorities began arresting 24 people on charges of plotting to use liquid explosives to blow up as many as 10 planes bound for the United States. Exceptions are baby formula and medicines. Liquids and gels must be placed in checked baggage.

Hastily made signs announcing the new measures were posted at all ticket counters at the New Orleans airport, and airline employees advised fliers to repack taboo items in checked luggage. Travelers who hadn't heard about the new rule or didn't realize, for example, that lip gloss is contraband filled garbage bins near the security checkpoints.

Mascara in the mail

Standing outside a security checkpoint, a harried and annoyed Molly Dubois handed her mother a tube of mascara and her "face," a bottle of liquid foundation. She had put her contact lens solution in her checked luggage, but she didn't realize that the makeup, too, was forbidden.

"I'm going to have her mail it to me," said the 21-year-old Boutte resident, who planned to be in New York for eight days, adding that she grasps the logic behind the ban. "I understand. It's just a pain."

Dubois wasn't worried about safety on the flight. But her mother, watching her walk through security, confessed concern.

"Just not knowing, and especially with her flying into New York," Lori Dubois said. "It's just a sad world we live in today."

Molly Dubois was not the only passenger handing off banned goods to others. David Schexnayder of New Iberia, who was sending his 12-year-old son to Washington, said a woman gave his 9-year-old daughter a bottle of Burberry perfume.

" 'I want you to take this because it's $50 perfume,' " he said, remembering her words. " 'I don't want to have to throw it away.' "

Schexnayder and his wife, Lori, were not worried about their son's flight.

"He's in God's hands," Lori Schexnayder said, ruminating on the alleged terrorist plot. "It's hard to understand. They have different ideas about things."

Random screenings

Security screeners are not necessarily opening every carry-on bag to check for contraband, although passengers should prepare themselves for that, said Andrea McCauley, spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

Once beyond checkpoints, passengers may still buy beverages on the concourse but may not take them on planes, she said.

"We do have a random screening process in place," she said, refusing to go into much detail for security reasons. Other security measures also have been increased, she said, citing air marshals, local law enforcement and dogs on patrol for anything suspicious.

McCauley said the length of the ban on liquids is unknown.

"At this point, we can't give a date," she said.

Free shipping

Airport stores, which depend on outgoing traffic for much of their sales, are finding ways to alleviate the inevitable loss of revenue. At the Tabasco Country Store outside Concourse D, where the shelves are lined with spicy goods, many containing liquid, co-owner Hughes Drumm said he is offering free shipping.

"As with any business, you have to adapt, improvise and overcome," he said, using a U.S. Marines slogan.

The assistant manager of The Body Shop, outside Concourse C, said she has been pushing nonbanned items.

"Instead of coconut shower cream, we'll sell the coconut soap," said Michelle DeGrange. "It's affected us greatly. This is The Body Shop: We specialize in creamy-consistency things."

The store's location gave Jennifer Buchheit, who flew into New Orleans for the American Psychological Association convention, a convenient place to pick up what she left behind.

"I'm replacing what I had to throw away in Atlanta," Buchheit said, carrying powdered foundation in place of the liquid makeup she was forbidden to take on board her flight.

She said she felt some apprehension during her flight and listened to CNN throughout it. She called the ban "inconvenient" but necessary.

"I think they're being proactive, and I appreciate that," she said. From the Times Picayune, August 11, 2006

Air Share
Airlines vie for bigger piece of the N.O. market pie

by Jaime Guillet
08/07/2006
New Orleans City Business

Since Hurricane Katrina, market shares have been reshuffled for airlines serving Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Industry experts attribute changes in the number of passengers and flights to the drop in service by Armstrong’s pre-Katrina market share leader — Southwest Airlines.

On Aug. 29, Southwest Airlines held the top spot at the airport with 57 flights, or 29 percent of LANOIA’s flights. While Southwest remains the forerunner with 22 percent, it now offers 24 of the airport’s 107 flights — less than half the airline’s pre-Katrina capacity. The decrease has allowed airlines such as Continental, American and JetBlue to grab passengers.

“Some of our competitors were much larger and now they’re not, which has allowed us to capture a larger percentage of the market share,” said American Airline spokesman Tim Smith.

American’s market share at the airport has increased from 12 percent in June 2005 to 17 percent a year later with 17 daily flights. Continental Airlines’ market share has increased 64 percent from 11 percent of the market to 18 percent for an average 17 daily flights.

Airport Interim Aviation Director Sean Hunter agrees.

“Obviously, Southwest has yet to come back as strong as they were before Katrina,” said Hunter. “Also, American and Continental fly to two cities that were heavily impacted by Katrina as well — Dallas and Houston.”

Airline alternatives

Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg says Southwest’s uncertainty in the New Orleans market immediately following Katrina caused the airline to rein in many of its flights.

“We had to make some tough decisions about what to do about our aircraft,” said Berg. “Uncertain times that we had — not knowing what was going to happen in New Orleans, when air service was going to pick up — we had to make some decisions about what to do with those planes so we moved them into other cities.”

Now, the airline is in the “tricky” position of not having enough aircraft to restore its pre-Katrina flights, said Berg.

“Demand is so high,” Berg said. “We’re flying at record load factors. I think most airlines are, so there’s just not a lot of excess capacity to move around the system.”

US Airways, which also experienced a decrease in market share, did not plan on such a quick recovery of passenger demand in New Orleans, said Mike Britman, managing director of the airline’s route planning.

“We weren’t sure how fast demand was going to come back,” said Britman. “We’ve been watching very closely and we’re very encouraged by what we’ve seen.”

Britman said the airline will be at 80 percent of its pre-Katrina flights by September.

Taking wing

As of June 10, Southwest had 24 daily, nonstop departures to 10 cities. The airline will acquire 33 new Boeing 737s throughout the remainder of 2006, Berg said, and will place those aircraft where they are “most efficiently and effectively (used) in our system for our customers and also for the help of our airline.”

“We know our flights are doing well there and to be honest we’d like to grow. We’d like to be bigger than we were before Katrina ... but we don’t have the planes to do so,” said Berg. “We feel like the service that we have there now is a good, fair start.”

Not all market share increases should be attributed to Southwest’s decrease, said JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin. Niche services, such as the airline’s nonstop flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, are having more impact, said Dervin.

“Market share is one of those results that we like to measure but we don’t build our strategy around improving market share,” said Dervin. “Market share in and of itself is not the primary unit of success for us. It’s very convenient for passengers in New Orleans to take non-stop flights to JFK and that has contributed to our market share.”

Overall, the airlines are encouraged competition is returning to New Orleans and that as service continues to grow, the number of flights will as well.

“We made the commitment that we would get back (to New Orleans) as soon as (the city’s) infrastructure could support it and we did so,” said Smith. “It’s a reflection of our commitment to New Orleans.” From CityBusiness, August 7, 2006

DirectAir seeks landing in New Orleans

by Jaime Guillet
NEW ORLEANS CITY BUSINESS

08/07/2006

Local entrepreneur John Miller believes New Orleans’ recovery — beyond even the pre-Katrina era — lies in molding Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport into a hub. His plan includes creating a new airline, DirectAir — with the partnership of the state of Louisiana.

“The relationship is similar to a (public) utility,” said Miller. “We want the state in essence to become what the federal government has been for the airline industry after 9/11. The industry was devastated (and) the federal government stepped up and they loaned billions of dollars to the airline industry. We (would be) meeting an essential need of the entire state by making guarantees to the state, in return for guarantees from the state.”

The state would help DirectAir provide competitive flights because it would eliminate the 4 percent fuel tax the airline pays. The model also requires that Louisiana make a $300 million commitment over seven years by way of loans.

But the state isn’t sold on the idea.

“We’re asking the federal government for billions of dollars to help us in the recovery process,” said Economic Development Secretary Mike Olivier. “At this point, because we are reaching our debt limitation according to our state treasurer, I do not know that we would have the financial capacity to be able to offer a $300 million loan guarantee.”

In creating DirectAir, Miller believes he can dramatically increase the number of travelers in and out of New Orleans from the pre-Katrina figure of 10 million. Miller believes establishing the airline would create 3,000 airline-related jobs and 50,000 tourism-related jobs. This would generate $500 million in taxes (annually), which would significantly benefit the state, said Miller.

Miller’s business model is to buy one of the eight existing airlines — mooring Armstrong Airport as its hub — and make it competitive with other airlines by low fares, especially for Louisiana residents.

“We’ve done extensive analysis on fares,” said Miller. “When we fly a plane from Atlanta to New Orleans, we know how much it costs to fly that plane. We will have the lowest, spontaneous leisure fares.”

Miller says no loan would ever be funded “until DirectAir has 150 daily flights and 50 aircraft.” The state’s annual loan amount would never exceed $100 million, said Miller. “We are proposing a loan and not an outright investment by the state,” said Miller.

Miller says he has submitted the plan to Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and pitched the proposal to Olivier but to no avail.

“There are no discussions,” said Miller. “The state is not even considering this.”

Airport Interim Aviation Director Sean Hunter says he believes the plan is feasible and the creation of DirectAir would “have a significant impact.” But Olivier said the bottom line is the state is not in a position to enter into a deal of that fiscal magnitude.

“Where would we get this money?” asked Olivier. “I don’t care how you skin this cat — he’s asking the state of Louisiana to give him a $300 million loan or either a loan guarantee. However you skin it, it’s still a loan that becomes due and payable and somebody’s got to pay and guarantee it — that would be the state.

“I do not know that we would have the financial capacity to be able to offer a $300 million loan guarantee,” said Olivier. From CityBusiness, August 7, 2006

Cargo airport idea gets 6-month reprieve
Proceed or let it die? Ruling is in February

Saturday, July 29, 2006
By Matt Scallan

The Louisiana Airport Authority, which wants to build a massive cargo airport and manufacturing complex between Donaldsonville and White Castle, says it will decide whether the project is feasible by February.

The LAA last week signed a one-year extension of its agreement with a Canadian group, which says it is willing to invest $90 million in the project and to recruit other investors if the state buys the land upriver from Donaldsonville at an estimated cost of about $100 million.

The authority is a state agency formed in 1992 to create a new airport between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The two-year agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corp. and SNC-Lavalin was to expire in August, but the group extended the agreement with the LAA to take an updated look at the project and confirm that there is a market for it.

An economic impact study paid for by the LAA estimated that the site would create 66,000 direct jobs over the next 40 years.

LAA Executive Director Glenda Jeansonne said the Canadians will spend the next six months rechecking the basis of their business plan for the site before deciding whether to proceed.

"We're going to have a go-no go decision in February. And if it's a go, we'll begin working on the detailed business plan," she said.

A major focus of the study is to determine if earlier assumptions are still good, particularly in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Jeansonne said.

"We don't know if the storms have had any effect on the feasibility of the project or not," she said.

The LAA plans to focus at first on building a 12,000-foot runway and warehouses designed to snare cargo planes serving Latin America, eventually building more runways and hosting manufacturing plants that make products from material generated by the region's petrochemical plants.

The project has plenty of critics, including a consultant for the state who said last year that the project was too risky for the state to make a significant investment.

LAA officials say the critical study, performed by Wilbur Smith Associates, was superficial and focused on only the airport portion of the project, while omitting the rail, trucking and port facilities.

Others who don't like the idea are sugar cane farmers whose land is in the project's 25,000-acre footprint, managers of airports in Baton Rouge and New Orleans who are afraid that the project could capture public money that would otherwise be earmarked for improving their facilities, and backers of alternative airport plans.

The LAA is conducting an environmental study of the proposed site, while SNC-Lavalin conducts the feasibility study.

Money for both studies is expected to come from the state capital outlay budget, which includes $1.4 million in the Priority 2 category and $2.3 million in the Priority 5 category.

Mark Lambert, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said Friday that the department is trying to assist the agency with its study.

"We're kind of in an information mode," he said. "They're gathering. We're providing. When they're finished, we'll take a look at it from our end."

Don Pierson, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, said moving ahead with the project would mean a significant investment for the state, not only to purchase the property, but improvements to roads and other infrastructure.

"You have to look at the entire picture, including the indirect creation of jobs," Pierson said Friday.

Once the study is complete, the governor and ultimately the Legislature will decide whether it's worth it, he said.

"The thing about this is that the SNC-Lavalin is going to be investing its own money in the project and they're not going to do that if all the people doing the feasibility study can say is, 'Good luck.' " From the Times Picayune, July 29, 2006

Hospitality industry passing big test
Library convention going well, but flight shortages to N.O. noted

Monday, June 26, 2006
Times Picayune
By Jaquetta White

Participants and observers in town for the first major convention in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina offered mostly praise for the hospitality industry's handling of the event, but the limited number of flights into the city has emerged as an issue.

More than 18,000 members of the American Library Association are in town for a conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. It began Thursday and ends Wednesday. It is the first major event to test the city's convention industry, and the reaction to it will go a long way toward preserving or diminishing New Orleans' reputation as a premier convention destination.

"It was just imperative that this show go well," said Nancy Schucart, a representative for housing and travel agency ITS. "And I would say this was definitely a positive experience."

Schucart said she had expected the city to have fewer restaurants and service workers but "didn't notice any visible changes in the downtown area." That's information Schucart will take to other convention clients considering meeting in New Orleans.

Other conventioneers said they noticed that some operations were short-staffed, but they were not inconvenienced.

"It's been great," said Dan Donovan, who traveled with his librarian wife from Raleigh, N.C. The hotel "is shorthanded, but everybody's doing the best they can. It seems like people don't mind waiting."

Kevin Cleary of Cleveland said the hotel staff "apologized for (the service) upfront."

"But it wasn't that bad," said Cleary, an exhibitor for Collegiate Directories Inc. "It's New Orleans. You expect a leisurely pace."

Phoenix, Ariz., architect Jim Richard, who toured some of the more devastated neighborhoods in the area, applauded the hospitality industry's effort to create an area for visitors that was separate from the destruction.

"It's amazing how insular you really are" downtown, Richard said. "But when you step outside, it's amazing to see what a good job they do of separating the two."

However, not everything has gone smoothly. The lower number of flights into Louis Armstrong International Airport has emerged as an issue. The airport has about two-thirds of the 166 flights per day it had before Katrina.

Fewer flights meant that Joan Chapa, an exhibitor with Marcive Inc., had to drive to New Orleans on Friday after her flight from San Antonio, Texas, was delayed, causing her to miss a connecting flight from Houston to New Orleans. Chapa tried to get a later flight into New Orleans, but everything was booked through Sunday.

Atlanta librarian Rosaline Odom said two conference sessions she had planned to attend were canceled because the speakers could not get flights into the city.

"That is a problem," said Roz Kriener, a meeting planner with the National Association of Realtors' conventions and meetings department.

Kriener is in town to observe the library convention in preparation for the Realtors convention in November, when at least 25,000 attendees are anticipated. Kriener, who has been telling members to book flights early, said the city desperately needs more direct flights to accommodate large groups.

Otherwise, Kriener said, she was encouraged by what she saw and is confident New Orleans is capable once again of hosting a large conference.

"Everything seems to be coming back to life," she said. From the Times Picayune, June 26, 2006

Southwest adds 6 flights from N.O.
Dallas airline is largest at airport

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer

Southwest Airlines Co. added six daily nonstop flights from New Orleans this past weekend, for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, making the Dallas carrier once again the largest airline operating from the Louis Armstrong International Airport.

The new round-trips will run between New Orleans and the Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport in Florida, the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, the Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport. There will also be an additional flight between New Orleans and the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston.

The new flights bring Southwest's total to 24. While that's more than other carriers, it still amounts to only 43 percent of the of the airline's pre-Hurricane Katrina service.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said restoring air service to New Orleans is a priority because the city has historic significance for Southwest: It was the airline's first destination outside of Texas.

But Southwest has more demand than it does planes, and after adding four cities to its route map in the past 18 months -- Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Denver and Fort Myers, Fla. -- the planes that used to serve New Orleans were needed in other cities.

"It was a business decision to deploy the aircraft to other routes where they could make they could make money," McInnis said.

The airport has said that after the addition of these six Southwest flights, there probably won't be any significant gains in air service out of New Orleans until the fall, when the cruise ships and conventions return.

Southwest is trying to pace its return in New Orleans with the city's rebuilding. Deploying aircraft may get easier, as Southwest is taking delivery of 33 new planes this year, but decisions on where to place aircraft weigh demand in New Orleans against demand in other cities.

"We are in situations were we have more demand than we have airplanes, so we have to prioritize," McInnis said. "It's almost like building a new market again."

Right now there are 107 daily departures from New Orleans, about 64 percent of the 166 flights per day before Katrina. Those flights go to 34 cities, compared with 44 destinations before the storm. There are about 12,300 airline seats serving the market, about 60 percent of the pre-Katrina level.

While Southwest used to be the largest carrier at the airport by a significant margin, followed by Delta Air Lines Inc. , and then all the rest, the amount of service offered by Southwest and the legacy carriers is much closer now than it used to be. For example, Southwest has 24 daily flights, and Continental Airlines Inc. has 17 flights per day. From the Times Picayune, June 13, 2006

Kenner wary as dump cleanup starts
Council delays work on spending plans

Friday, June 02, 2006
By Mary Swerczek
Kenner bureau

Cleanup began Thursday on the temporary Jefferson Parish dump near Louis Armstrong International Airport -- which has been the target of complaints for months from neighbors and city leaders -- officials told the Kenner City Council.

The discussion was spirited at times about the dump, formerly green space that was taken over by Jefferson Parish in the aftermath of Katrina. But there was no debate at Thursday's council meeting on Mayor Phil Capitano's proposed 2006-07 capital and operating budgets, along with 12 other ordinances, which were unexpectedly deferred until the council's June 15 meeting.

Because the ordinances hadn't been advertised in time, those discussions had to be deferred, and the council voted unanimously to delay debate on the operating budget, which could have been discussed because it was properly advertised.

Members said they chose to delay discussion of the operating budget because they had some questions and hadn't received all requested budget-related documents from the Finance Department.

The announcement about the dump came at the outset of the meeting, before the discussion of the ordinances was deferred.

"The site will probably be better than it was before when we're done with it," said Paul Wise, operations manager for Ceres Environmental, which is cleaning up the site.

Kenner council members and residents have complained about the dump since Jefferson Parish picked the site in September as a stopping point for curbside debris on its way to a permanent dump site.

"There was so much debris at that time that we needed staging areas," said Marnie Winter, Jefferson Parish's director of environmental affairs.

The Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the area where construction debris from unincorporated Jefferson Parish was dumped. Kenner had been using the east side of the dump site for debris and trees, but has stopped using the area.

Councilman Marc Johnson, who represents the area, said he's fielded many complaints.

"We've gotten reports from residents about paint cans and drums," Johnson said, referring to some of the trash he has heard had been dumped there.

Wise said the site has to be cleaned of illegally dumped debris and equipment left by squatters. Then two or three inches will be taken off the surface and more dirt will be put down and the land will be seeded. Soil borings will be done to test the area.

Councilman Kent Denapolis worried that trash has sunk lower into the soil than a few inches.

Winter said the soil borings will determine how far the soil has been affected by the dump.

Johnson said streets and sidewalks have been damaged by heavy dump trucks and should be fixed.

Winter responded that she would have the parish's public works department assess the streets and said she believes the corps took photos of the area before it was used as a dump site. From the Times Picayune, June 2, 2006

Recovering N.O. airport turns 60

By CityBusiness staff report

NEW ORLEANS — The Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport celebrates 60 years of commercial flight service to the New Orleans Metro area and the Gulf South this month.

In 1946, the airport was the first post-war international airport opened for service, dedicated by Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, a famous World War II war hero.

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, originally named Moisant International Airport, was the largest commercial airport in the United States at the time at twice the size of New York’s LaGuardia or Chicago’s O’Hare airports. Dignitaries from Latin American countries who attended the dedication declared the airport to be vitally important to inter-American relations. Throughout the 1940s, Moisant served all major cities in Central and South America.

The airport was first named for daredevil aviator John B. Moisant, an impulsive flight pioneer who designed and built the first all-metal plane in 1909. Moisant was the first to fly the English Channel with a passenger Sept. 6, 1910. This American citizen was the founder and star in the first professional flying circus until a fatal crash in his Bieriot monoplane took his life near New Orleans City Park on New Year’s Eve in 1910. He was 37 years old.

The airport has had two name changes since the dedication in 1946. In December 1962, it became “New Orleans International Airport” to more closely identify the facility with the city. The second name change took place July 5, 2001, when it was renamed for jazz legend Louis Armstrong.

The first travelers at the airport waited in a quonset hut without air conditioning and walked across the tarmac to 21-passenger DC-3 flights. The airport opened with six airlines: Chicago & Southern Airlines, Delta, Eastern, Mid-Continent, National and Pan American World Airways.

Today, Delta is the only airline of the six still operating with its original moniker. Eight other airlines have joined Delta in serving LANOIA.

Today, Armstrong’s air service continues to recover with more than 100 daily departures — 60 percent of the pre-K level. More flights and destinations will be added in June. From CityBusiness, May 26, 2006

Storm plans satisfy airlines
Big carriers review Katrina response

Sunday, May 28, 2006
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer

Although Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has asked airlines to fly out of New Orleans for as long as possible when a hurricane is approaching, the largest air carriers serving the Crescent City foresee little change to their pre-storm operations.

"At $50 million an airplane, would you want to leave them on the ground?" said Michelle Duffourc, spokeswoman for Louis Armstrong International Airport. "They each have their own procedures as to when they're going to pull out. They also have their employees to consider."

Major airlines serving the airport echo that position.

Delta Air Lines, which was criticized last year because it stopped flying from New Orleans on Saturday night when the storm didn't hit until Monday morning, said there was nothing about Hurricane Katrina that would make it rethink its operations leading up to hurricanes.

"We feel confident about our system and the way we make decisions," said Chris Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Atlanta-based airline.

Delta is the largest carrier in Florida and has a major presence along the Gulf Coast, so it has plenty of experience with storms. Each one is different, depending in the timing of the storm, the timing of flights, whether employees need to get out of the area, whether there are disabled passengers, or passengers connecting to international flights. Sometimes the airline adds extra flights to get people out. Financial considerations, such as the flight loads in each direction, are not considered.

"Safety is the No. 1 concern," Kelly said. "We have a quite a lot of practice with this."

Southwest Airlines was the last carrier to fly out of New Orleans before Katrina, when it sent in two planes to evacuate employees and their families and pets and brought them to Dallas and to Houston, where they were housed in hotels.

Like Delta, Southwest said that it makes decisions based on the situation at hand as to when to stop flying, spokeswoman Paula Berg said.

"Our plans always going to be contingent upon the circumstances we face," Berg said. "There's no formula necessarily for addressing it."

But Southwest has changed its level of monitoring of storms. Airline executives used to meet regularly when storms might affect planes on the company's grid. Now, when a hurricane threatens, there is a team of people who are required to stop what they're doing and put all their efforts into following the storm and making any changes that are necessary. The idea, Berg said, is to be able to react more quickly and accommodate more customers.

"We're more nimble," Berg said. "It's to make sure that our operational changes are keeping up with the storm."

Continental Airlines notes that it was the second-to-last carrier to stop flying. When its last flight pulled out at 4:30 p.m, it canceled the two other extra flights it had scheduled on Sunday night only because of deteriorating weather conditions. From the Times Picayune, May 28, 2006

Armstrong International Celebrates 60 Years of Service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- May 26, 2006 --- This month, the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport celebrates 60 years of commercial flight service to the New Orleans Metro area and the Gulf South.

In 1946, the airport was the first post war international airport opened for service, dedicated by World War II’s most famous hero, Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle. On opening day, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, originally named Moisant International Airport, was the largest commercial airport in the United States, twice the size of New York’s LaGuardia or Chicago’s O’Hare airports. Dignitaries from Latin American countries who attended the dedication declared the airport to be vitally important to inter-American relations. In fact, throughout the ‘40s, Moisant served all major cities in Central and South America.

The airport was first named for daredevil aviator named John B. Moisant. He was an impulsive flight pioneer who designed and built the first all-metal plane in 1909. Moisant was the first to fly the English Channel with a passenger on September 6, 1910. Because of this achievement, he became the toast of Europe and a media darling in the U.S. This American citizen was the founder and star in the first professional flying circus – until a fatal crash in his Bieriot monoplane took his life near New Orleans’ City Park on New Year’s Eve in 1910. He was 37 years old. The airport has had two name changes since the dedication in 1946. In December, 1962, the airport’s name changed for the first time to “New Orleans International Airport” in order to more closely identify the facility with the city. The second name change took place on July 5, 2001 when it was renamed for jazz legend Louis Armstrong.

The first travelers at this airport waited in a quonset hut without air conditioning and walked across the tarmac to their 21-passenger DC-3 flights. The airport originally opened with six airlines: Chicago & Southern Airlines, Delta, Eastern, Mid-Continent, National, and Pan American World Airways. Today, Delta is the only airline of the six still operating with its original moniker. It is still with us, in addition to 8 others.

Since 1946, Armstrong International has strived to make the airport user-friendly and safe for both international and domestic passengers. It has come a long way since the quonset hut, reaching many milestones. From the addition of concourses and a covered parking garage to the rehabilitation of runways, we have had numerous construction projects totaling multiple millions of dollars that benefited the airport, our passengers and our community. These projects have provided jobs and enhanced the efficiency of the airport to meet passenger growth.

The airport is like a small city and it is the airport team that keeps the airport running smoothly, even through challenging times such as Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, Jazz Fest, major conventions, holidays, presidential visits and most recently - Hurricane Katrina.

Today, Armstrong’s air service continues to rapidly recovering with over 100 daily departures, 60% of the Pre-K level. More flights and destinations will be added in June.

As proud as we may be of our past, greater things await us in the future. With the support of our community, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport will continue to recover and be an air passenger facility that will serve as a catalyst for responsible development in the Gulf South. For more information about the history of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and our services, visit our website at www.flymsy.com.

For further information, contact Michelle C. Duffourc, Public Relations Manager, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, at 504-464-3547 or 504-628-0250 (cell).

Williams continues to push airport relocation

By Jaime Guillet Staff Writer
City Business – Up to the Minute News

NEW ORLEANS — Roy Williams, the outgoing director of aviation, today continued working for the potential relocation of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport during a World Trade Center luncheon celebrating his service to the community.

Williams, whose final day as aviation director is May 31, spoke about the benefits of relocating LANOIA to a location off the shore of Lake Pontchartrain to consolidate the facility at Lakefront Airport. Williams cites the relocated airport’s shortened distance from downtown New Orleans as a convenience as well as the fact no plane routes would fly over any neighborhoods — even pre-Katrina — and lower property values through noise pollution.

He said planes, passengers and cargo could come in and out of the city much more easily if Armstrong was moved to a location on Lake Pontchartrain.

“We now know that the airport can and should function in a tropical storm event,” said Williams. “Every other way in and out of this community is a road that either sooner or later is below sea level.”

The city already has a tract of land devoted to aviation with Lakefront Airport so why not recycle it as part of the support for a new international airport, said Williams.

“Opportunities are all open now,” Williams said. “There are very few communities in the entire world who can say ‘Let’s go to a site 10 to 12 miles from downtown” and is able to not have planes fly over a residential neighborhood.”

The biggest issue with relocating the airport remains money, said Williams, as nearly $4 billion would be needed from the Federal Aviation Administration. He said the relocation would be unlikely through the FAA, since it has 50 percent fewer passengers post-Katrina, but it could be funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an infrastructure improvement.

Williams said “barring any further plagues” Armstrong should return to 100 percent of pre-Katrina levels by mid-summer 2007.

WTC presidents past and present presented Williams, who is taking a similar position with the Salt Lake City airport, with a certificate of honor in recognition of his efforts towards “international peace, trade and understanding” for the New Orleans community.

Sean Hunter was selected by the New Orleans Aviation Board as the interim director of aviation until the board elects a replacement. From CityBusiness, May 22, 2006

Airport access road just got a little faster
The speed limit now increases to 45 mph

Friday, May 19, 2006
Kenner bureau

In a move sure to please people rushing to or from Louis Armstrong International Airport, the speed limit on Airport Access Road was raised this week from 35 mph to 45 mph.

The change on the road connecting Interstate 10 to the airport comes after two traffic studies recommended it. Studies by Urban Systems Inc. in June 2002 and July 2005 found 45 mph a more realistic speed for the four-lane divided road.

Armed with that data, the Kenner City Council unanimously approved the change April 20. New signs went up this week.

After several major accidents, including a head-on fatality collision in 1998, the access road was widened and given a median divider in 2001.

The increased speed limit applies to the north-south part of the 2½-mile-long road. The speed limit is 25 mph on the undivided east-west portion near the airport terminal. From the Times Picayune, May 19, 2006

Interim airport boss wants full title

New Orleans City Business
By Jaime Guillet
May 15, 2006
Page 12

NEW ORLEANS — Newly chosen interim director Sean Hunter says he plans to boost the city’s image by way of its front door at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

"Certainly I want to be on a parallel track with the city and the region, ensuring that the image we present as the front door to the city, and the last thing they see leaving New Orleans, is a good one," Hunter said.

Dan Packer, New Orleans Airport Board chairman, says the airport needs a business-minded, innovative director with strong management skills.

"He has the job until we select someone else — and it may be him," said Packer. "That means that he has all the full authority that comes with the job. Our expectations are that he’ll exercise that authority as if he were aviation director."

Packer said the board is searching for a director who has "no fear of the unknown." The unknown involves the uncertain New Orleans recovery and hurricane threats.

"All of us in this region, we’re all treading on brand new ground," said Packer. "The aviation director really has to be someone who has the kind of integrity and courage to move forward and is able to think long term and plan long term."

The airport bears a crucial function for a city whose economic viability is based in tourism, Hunter said. He is taking the place of Director Roy Williams, who resignation becomes effective May 31, one day before the start of the 2006 hurricane season. Williams accepted a similar position for an airport in Salt Lake City.

Hunter, a Detroit native, has been deputy director of operations and maintenance for six years. He recently added the duties of acting deputy director of safety and security and acting director of the airport’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise office.

The New Orleans Aviation Board appointed Hunter interim aviation director until a national search is complete anywhere from six to 14 months from now. With 20 years of aviation experience in the military and at Atlantic City International, Hunter said he is prepared to lead the airport through any possible crises.

"I’ve worked in air traffic control when you’re basically controlling the airplanes in the sky and now I’m working in airport management when you control them on the ground," said Hunter. "The only difference between those two jobs is the stress level."

Hunter, 40, said he prefers the "chronic" stress of airport management versus the "acute" stress of air traffic control. Williams said Hunter’s role as head of operations, security and the DBE program, especially during the last nine months, allowed him to showcase "good crisis management" skills and gain "good exposure to financial and administrative issues." Williams said a challenge will be to restore airport passenger traffic now at 51 percent of pre-Katrina levels. March ridership totaled 470,000 passengers versus 920,000 in March 2005.

"As passenger traffic continues to build, managing that growth is very important," said Williams. "Also, making certain the airport and its development fully supports the region’s recovery."

Expansion goals

Williams said the airport is adding an average of five flights per month and he expects Armstrong to attain pre-Katrina flight levels by June 2007 — a feat he didn’t expect nine months ago. His goal is to keep more passengers coming through the airport and to spread the message New Orleans is strong, said Hunter.

The airport has issues with its vendors, some failing financially, especially those stuck in concourses not heavily traveled. Twenty-five out of 36 vendors reopened and in the first quarter but sales are only at 28 percent of pre-Katrina levels.

"It is my goal to help out small businesses and to find some way to help bring about some relief to our tenants," said Hunter. "We’ve done all we can do, at least in the arena of keeping the airlines’ cost down, but you’re operating at 50 percent of your traffic. Everybody’s costs are not operating at that same 50 percent. Your cost is fixed no matter if you move one person through here or 10 million.

"I understand if the vendors are looking to the airport to help them out and we will," said Hunter.

With conventions returning, Hunter said he plans to work with the tourism industry on restoring the New Orleans image. He began by sprucing up the terminal with better lighting, new paint and carpet and restoring restrooms at a cost of $1.5 million. He will improve ground transportation by working to provide larger shuttles at convention time and partnering with the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau to sponsor a "taxicab appreciation day" so the New Orleans Taxicab Bureau can improve existing cabs.

Hunter in the running

Regarding long-term plans, Packer said the interest in the possible relocation of Armstrong to eastern New Orleans has cooled until the airport can better pre-Katrina passenger levels.

"First things first," said Packer. "To get to the point where we say we need to do something with a new airport, we have to have a reason for doing it and the largest reason for doing that is the number of (departing) passengers and the amount of cargo that goes through here. We have to get that back to more than pre-Katrina levels to make it viable."

Hunter said his most pressing issue is preparing Armstrong for hurricane season. He is significantly increasing provisions such as food and water and making sure staff member families are taken care of prior to a storm instead of sheltering them at the airport.

"From the state on down, the level of awareness, the level of cooperation, the logistics of pulling things together between Orleans and Jefferson (parishes) — all that synergy there is pretty familiar because we’ve had eight months to try to work on it together," said Hunter. "My goal is ensuring that the public is confident the airport has a plan and it’s prepared for natural disasters. We demonstrated that during Katrina and now that we’ve learned from Katrina we will be in a better position to handle the next." From CityBusiness, May 15, 2006

N.O. to add nonstop Honduras flights

By CityBusiness staff report

NEW ORLEANS — Louis Armstrong New Orleans International will resume international air service June 3 with Saturday charter flights to Honduras.

International Charter and Tours will have weekly non-stop flights from New Orleans to San Pedro Sula and continuing on to La Ceiba, Honduras, through Aug. 5.

New Orleans travelers will leave for San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba at 11 a.m., arrive at the connector flight at 1:30 p.m. and reach final destination at 3:10 p.m.

Returnees will depart San Pedro Sula to La Ceiba to New Orleans at 2:30 p.m. and arrive at 6:40 p.m.

The weekly charter flight will be operated by International Charter and Tours.

“The charter will help the Honduran Community maintain closer family ties by providing this nonstop link to San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba,” said Alina Fernandez, ICT president.

“We are pleased to gain this new charter service that will reconnect New Orleans to Honduras during the prime summer travel months," said Roy Williams, director of Aviation at Armstrong International Airport. Williams has resigned and will take over a similar position in Salt Lake City in June. From CityBusiness, May 2006

Hunt for new airport chief gears up as fill-in selected
N.O. board plans to hire search firm

Thursday, May 11, 2006
By Matt Scallan
Staff writer

The New Orleans Aviation Board voted Wednesday to begin the search for a new aviation director to replace Roy Williams, who is leaving after five years to become director of the Salt Lake City airport.

The board appointed Sean Hunter as interim director at a salary of about $151,000 a year. Hunter, the deputy director for operations at Louis Armstrong International Airport, will be allowed to compete for the permanent job.

The board also voted to hire an executive search firm to assist the board in the search. Board member Lea Polk will chair the search committee, which is made up of all of the board's nine members.

Board Chairman Dan Packer said he expects the search to take several months, and said he didn't want to wait until after the May 20 mayoral runoff between Mayor Ray Nagin and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu to begin the process.

"If there is a new mayor, the board would certainly consider his wishes, and we have a lot of people whose terms are about to expire, so whoever wins could replace a lot of people," Packer said.

Williams was hired in 2001 at the recommendation of a blue-ribbon panel made up from the business and tourism community.

Packer said he doesn't believe that is necessary this time.

"I believe the community trusts this board," he said. From the Times Picayune, May 11, 2006

Hotels will be empty in storms
Guests, workers, locals will have to evacuate

Thursday, May 04, 2006
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer

Reversing the decades-long tradition of "vertical evacuation," local hotels will no longer let guests and employees ride out hurricanes in their towers, the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association says.

The lodging industry's decision to close for storms this hurricane season comes after thousands of guests were stranded in miserable and dangerous conditions after Hurricane Katrina smashed windows and the Army Corps of Engineers' levee breaches flooded the streets. Hotels had trouble securing buses to evacuate guests from the chaos, and the notion of sparing local residents and their pets the stress of sitting in traffic on the highways no longer seemed like a smart move.

"I don't know of any hotel that intends to do vertical evacuation this year," said Bill Langkopp, executive vice president of the hotel association, which surveyed its members on their storm plans. "Our thrust will be to get the visitors out."

So ingrained was this Mother-Nature-be-damned tradition of vertical evacuation that the city's largest hotel, the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, proudly talked of sheltering locals as a public service. Last year, hotels were even exempted from mandatory evacuation orders.

But Katrina gave hoteliers a new appreciation for the responsibility -- and liability -- of caring for guests in an emergency. Hotels no longer want to be storm shelters, especially with lingering questions about the strength of the levees.

"Bringing people into a hotel for safe harbor was OK pre-Katrina. It is no longer acceptable post-Katrina," Langkopp said. "Pre-Katrina, the hotel community honestly believed that we could provide a place of safe haven. Now, the reality is that we need to look at getting people out."

Most believe that persuading people to evacuate won't be a problem.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that no one's going to need to tell them that they need to leave," said Al Groos, general manager of the Royal Sonesta New Orleans Hotel, one of only a handful of properties that never closed after the storm. "I don't think there's any appetite for vertical evacuation anymore."

Getting guests out

Hotels have been working closely with emergency operations and homeland security officials, and their counterparts at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, to develop an evacuation plan for their guests.

The convention bureau will serve as the clearinghouse to share information on where hotels are in their evacuation efforts, which ones may need help, whether airlines are still operating and how conditions are evolving. A skeleton crew from the bureau will work at the city's official emergency operations center to keep public officials apprised of hotel situations and will make facilities available for post-storm relief operations, said Stephen Perry, president and chief executive of the convention bureau.

While locals will get out on their own or end up in the city's bus evacuation depot at the Convention Center, hotels will help their guests evacuate. They hope that many guests will drive away on their own, and that flights will continue for a longer period of time than they did before Katrina. Thousands of guests with tickets home got stuck in the city because many airlines stopped flying as early as Saturday night.

But the hospitality industry isn't counting on the city's evacuation plan; hotels are contracting their own buses to get stranded guests out of town.

The hospitality industry needs a separate system, Perry said, because its evacuees have different needs. Locals who get on buses at the Convention Center may need to be housed for several weeks or will return eventually to New Orleans. Tourists just need to get to a hub airport where they can hop a plane for home.

"They'll be flying away. We're bringing travelers to an airport so they can depart," Perry said. "They're not moving somewhere to live and move back home."

The hospitality industry also hopes that having its own, well-developed evacuation system will be a selling point to visitors in what promises to be the most difficult summer ever for the tourism industry. "We're trying to make sure that we take the risk out for any visitor to come to New Orleans during hurricane season," Perry said.

Hotel workers, families

Last year, hotels for the first time tried to whittle the number of people in their care by encouraging tourists to leave early and shutting down their reservation systems to locals, with little success. Tourists couldn't get out and locals showed up anyway.

"It didn't work out very well," said Andrea Thornton, director of sales and marketing at the 600-room Hotel Monteleone. "Even though we discouraged people, they still begged us to take care of them. When the hurricane hit, we had 1,400 people in the hotel."

"At the last minute, they just all showed up. So what do you do?" said Patrick Quinn, principal of Decatur Hotels LLC, which operates the Astor Crowne Plaza and other downtown hotels. "We ended up taking them in."

In planning to close their properties for storms, for the first time hotels will have to figure out how to evacuate employees, many of whom don't have cars. Hotel workers and their families typically stayed at the hotels during storms so employees could work without having to worry about loved ones getting out of the city safely.

Large chain properties, such as the Hilton, will rely on their extensive network of hotels to help in relocating employees' families. Fred Sawyers, general manager of the Hilton, said his hotel will make reservations at sister properties in other cities for families of employees who volunteer to stay to evacuate the last guests. After tourists are safely on their way, employees will go meet their families; the only requirement is employees who stay must have a car or a ride.

Sawyers said he got the idea after he sent his wife and three cats out of town during Katrina so he could focus on his job.

"Thank goodness I didn't have to worry about my own situation. You need to give team members piece of mind that their affairs are in order to execute their best," he said.

Buddy system

Smaller or independent hotels that can't rely on a chain to take on employees or guests are coming up with other solutions.

The Monteleone is creating a buddy system to coordinate rides for employees without cars. The 171-room Chateau LeMoyne French Quarter Hotel, which successfully evacuated all of its guests by Sunday morning before Katrina and locked its doors, plans to start its evacuation as early as possible to make sure employees have time to leave.

Kathleen Young, general manager of the Chateau LeMoyne, said with so many people staying in hurricane-treacherous trailers, evacuations will need to start very early. That could also mean that hotels will begin cutting back on services for guests days before a potential storm, such as restricting towel service or cleaning schedules, limiting hours of food service and switching to plastic utensils and paper plates.

"If you start early enough, there's no getting stuck," Young said.

While there's no firm point when hotels will start evacuating, many say their actions will be triggered when the city begins talking about an evacuation, when New Orleans is in the strike zone cone, or when a storm of a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale is in the Gulf.

"I guess the biggest thing is going to be, when do you pull the trigger? When do you make the call?" Quinn said.

Of course, Young noted that closing a hotel won't be easy unless the corporate office is on board. It will be hard to give up the room revenue in a summer with no Essence Music Festival, few conventions and scant room bookings. If a hurricane threatens on, say, the one weekend in August when a hotel happens to have robust business, it may be hard for that property to close -- especially if there have been false alarms.

"That's a tough position to be in if that's the only money you're going to make all month," said Young, adding that she's fortunate to have her owners' support in closing. "To run off summer business when you're this slow isn't an easy thing to do."

But Langkopp said evacuation plans have support from the very top of the hotel chains that operate in New Orleans.

"A GM of a hotel won't be a general manager for long if he empties his hotel out on a couple of occasions without the support of the corporate office," Langkopp said. "We're not doing what we're doing in isolation." From the Times Picayune, May 4, 2006

Aviation director is taking off
Williams taking airport job in Utah

Tuesday, April 25, 2006
By Matt Scallan
Staff Writer

New Orleans Aviation Director Roy Williams, who steered Louis Armstrong International Airport through turbulent times for the past five years, is leaving to take a job as director of the Salt Lake City Airport, officials announced Monday.

"It's been challenging and it's been fun, but I'm from the west and my wife and I have had a long-term goal of getting back there at some point in our careers," said Williams, a native of Twin Falls, Idaho.

He begins work at his new post on May 30.

Williams, 51, a former airline executive and director of the Dayton, Ohio, airport, has been an ardent promoter of the airport in the community, appearing before countless governmental and civic groups to explain how the airport works and why it's important to the area's economy.

"He really reached out to the community, and we especially needed that after Katrina," said Aviation Board member Ralph Brennan, a restaurateur. "He let people know that we were back and ready for business."

New Orleans Aviation Board Chairman Dan Packer said he's sorry to see Williams go.

"As I began to learn about this industry, I realized that Roy is an expert at running an airport," Packer said.

Packer said he will ask the board to appoint Sean Hunter, the airport's deputy director for operations, as the interim airport director.

Williams was hired in March 2001 with a mandate to push for the airport's top priority: completion of a new parallel runway.

But the airport never was able to overcome staunch opposition in Kenner, where it is located, and in St. Charles Parish, where the new runway was to have been built. In the end, airport engineers came up with alternatives to build a new airport, either in the Bonnet Carré Spillway in St. Charles or in eastern New Orleans.

St. Charles Parish President Albert Laque said Williams impressed him as being open and honest, even if the airport's objectives sometimes clashed with the parish's.

"I think he was good with the airport, even though we didn't agree with everything that they were trying to do," Laque said.

Williams' legacy is supervising the reconstruction of the airport's two aging runways, including its main strip, which was finished only days before Katrina struck on Aug. 29.

He also led the effort to raise airport salaries to competitive levels, which reduced turnover of technical staff, and to fill top-level jobs that had gone empty for years, forcing the airport to rely on consultants for routine matters.

"We had a lot of positions that were unfilled. It stopped the bleeding," airport spokeswoman Michelle Duffourc said.

The airport is a self-supported enterprise, financed by airline and parking fees and concessions revenue.

Much of Williams' tenure has been spent trying to recover from blows to air traffic -- caused first by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the heightened security challenges that followed it, and then by Katrina.

At his current salary of $175,000 a year, Williams is the city's highest-paid employee. His new job as head of Salt Lake City's Department of Airports starts at $185,000 a year.

Salt Lake City International Airport served 22 million passengers in 2005. It is the nation's 27th busiest airport. Armstrong, with a pre-Katrina total of about 10 million passengers, was the nation's 40th busiest.

During Williams' tenure, the airport was twice on track to break the 10 million-passenger mark in a calendar year. The first time was just before the Sept. 11 attacks; the second was just before Katrina struck. . In both cases, the airport had hit the mark in the preceding 12 months.

Microsoft cancels 3 N.O. visits Spotty air service to city is blamed

Passengers pour out the perfume

Cargo airport idea gets 6-month reprieve Proceed or let it die? Ruling is in February

Hospitality industry passing big test Library convention going well, but flight shortages to N.O. noted

Southwest adds 6 flights from N.O. Dallas airline is largest at airport

Kenner wary as dump cleanup starts Council delays work on spending plans

Storm plans satisfy airlines Big carriers review Katrina response

Airport access road just got a little faster The speed limit now increases to 45 mph

Hunt for new airport chief gears up as fill-in selected N.O. board plans to hire search firm

Thursday, May 11, 2006 By Matt Scallan Staff writer

Hotels will be empty in storms Guests, workers, locals will have to evacuate

Microsoft cancels 3 N.O. visits
Spotty air service to city is blamed