Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is exploring the possibility of going to private management. Paperwork has been filed with the FAA to allow the airport to look for a private manager. The city is said to be soliciting bids for management.
To the north, Branson Airport is the country’s only private airport at the moment. But with New Orleans looking at moving into the private sector, there will be another privately-run airport, even if the municipality will still own the infrastructure.
New Orleans is also exploring an option where the state will own and operate the airport rather than leaving the operations to the locality. However, no decisions have been made whether to move to private management or state management.
Meanwhile, struggling Branson Airport has been adding flights with new AirTran service scheduled to Orlando bringing their destination to two cities. The other is Atlanta. Sun Country is the other main airline at Branson with flights to Minneapolis and Dallas. ExpressJet flies to Shreveport, La., and Rockford, Ill.
The addition of Branson to the regional mix has resulted in many prices dropping at nearby Springfield, Mo., airport that has for years been controlled by legacy carriers.
A round-trip, nonstop coach ticket to Dallas on Sun Country Airlines leaving Branson on Sept. 26 and returning Sept. 28 was $95, compared to $429 on American Eagle out of Springfield. For the same travel dates, a round-trip, nonstop coach ticket to Atlanta from Branson on AirTran Airways was $355, compared to $479 on Delta Air Lines out of Springfield.
The fares are more competitive when tickets are booked several weeks in advance.
A round-trip, nonstop coach ticket to Dallas on Sun Country leaving Branson on Nov. 16 and returning Nov. 23 was $95, compared to $155 on American Eagle out of Springfield. For the same dates, a round-trip, nonstop coach ticket to Atlanta from Branson on AirTran was $214, compared to $224 on Delta from Springfield.
Privatization of the New Orleans airport won’t probably lead to many fare changes since Southwest has long been operating from New Orleans. The Southwest effect has kept airline prices moderated.
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
