By Terrell Bryant
NYT Institute

Even while New Orleans city officials openly discuss the prospect of moving the city’s main airport to a new site, they are also moving ahead with plans to expand Louis Armstrong International Airport.

City officials recently unveiled plans for a $40 million expansion to Concourse D. No increase in the airport’s parking capacity is planned. Concourse D’s eight gates currently are split between Continental and Delta airlines.

The shape of the current concourse was limited to the size of the area, said Ian Thompson, president of Sizeler Architects.

“The building has to be designed to stay functioning in a way that could not endanger incoming flights and passengers and had to be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. The design could not inconvenience anybody,” Thompson said.

The airport has 165 flights daily, served by 19 airlines with nonstop service to 42 cities. The airport expansion would allow for more planes to serve the airport. It would increase the passenger capacity to about 14 million from the current level of 12 million. The new structure will have nine gates, three floors and 103,000 square feet, according to Sizeler Architects.

Airport Deputy Director Sean Hunter said, “Although there may be plans to build a new airport, those are plans needed for 15 to 20 years away. The expansion is a short-term need the airport has.”

The expansion will allow for more planes to service more people. Hunter said the airport is considering a relationship with Washington-based Independence Air. Independence Air Director of Corporate Communications Rick DeLisi would not confirm plans to add service to New Orleans, but said new routes will be introduced in 2006.

"Expansion will bring the creation of jobs. As traffic grows, employment grows,” Airport Director Roy Williams said. More than 10,000 people work at the airport. With the expansion, Williams said airport officials are committed to making sure minorities are included in the construction and hiring processes.

“Thirty of the $60 million for the current runway renovation is subcontracted to minorities and disadvantaged business enterprise,” he said.

Parking should not be an issue, said Project Manager Brenda Williams with New South Parking Corporation. The parking facilities have about 7,000 parking spaces. Currently, about 70 percent of the spaces are occupied by employees and customers, leaving room to accommodate an increase in passenger traffic.

Derryl Benton, vice president for business development with the Hudson Group, a contractor that has worked on airport projects, said he looks forward to the expansion. “Every time an airport grows, then that means opportunity grows for the community. The economic base gets larger. It’s always a good thing for a business to stay fresh and viable,” he said. “Whatever is good for New Orleans is good for us. New Orleans is a tourism city so the more people that come in, the better it is for all of us.”

Bidding for the concourse expansion will begin in July.