New Orleans Lakefront Airport opened as Shushan Airport in 1934.
Shushan Airport
The airport out at Lake Pontchartrain and the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (Industrial Canal) originally opened as Shushan Airport, and later became New Orleans Lakefront Airport (NEW). The “big” airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, came later. The FAA doesn’t move the three-letter code names for airports, once radio frequencies, maps, etc, list them for a particular location. So, the original airport is NEW and the Kenner airport is MSY, an abbreviation for Moisant Stock Yards. Shushan Airport gets its name from Abraham Shushan, who was President of the Orleans Levee Board in the 1920s.
Construction of Shushan Airport was part of a larger capital project proposed in 1922. The main component of the package was the seawall. The seawall functioned as a sort of dam along the lake shore. It ran from West End to the Industrial Canal. Construction of the seawall enabled the Orleans Levee Board to drain the water behind the seawall, then develop it. As we discussed in Podcast 51, Winning the War on the Lakefront, much of the reclaimed land became military installations during the run-up to World War II.
The airport
Architectural rendering of the Shushan Airport main building, 1934.
Of the $15 million approved for the lakefront, the bill earmarked $4 million for an airport. The airport extended the functionality of the lakefront to the eastern side of the Industrial Canal.
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Many railroads and airlines operated ticket agent offices at the St. Charles Hotel.
The St. Charles Hotel was Travel Central
Photo of the Eastern Airlines ticket office on the ground floor of the St. Charles Hotel, early 1950s. Photo is from Franck Studios, via THNOC. The St. Charles was one of the city’s premier hotels since its opening in 1837. Since it attracted so many business travelers, the hotel leased out storefront space on the ground floor to railroads, and later, airlines. This started back in the early 20th century and continued well into the 1960s. After the opening of the Union Passenger Terminal in 1954, many of the railroads offering passenger service moved ticket operations to the station. It wasn’t all that far, and tickets could be delivered back to travelers staying at the hotel by messenger.
Eastern Airlines
After World War II, commercial airline travel increased dramatically. Therefore, airlines moved into storefronts previously occupied by the railroads. Eastern Airlines began operations in 1926. After the war, the airline ran regular flights from New Orleans to Miami (its headquarters and hub), and New York City. While Delta dominated air travel from New Orleans to Atlanta, Eastern also flew the route. The airline offered personal service to travelers in the CBD with this ticket office.
Third St. Charles
Eastern’s ticket office stood in the third (and final) incarnation of the St. Charles Hotel. After the second hotel burned down in 1894, this incarnation opened in 1896. So, in terms of travel service, this building ruled over the planes and trains. Streetcar routes were designed to pass by the hotel and all the major railroad terminals. The St. Charles lasted until 1974. The owner, Louis J, Roussel, Jr., demolished the hotel that year. He intended to build a massive, 800-room hotel on the site, but that plan never materialized. After ten years as an empty lot, the Place St. Charles office tower replaced the hotel. Capital One Bank now claims the naming rights for the building.
Shushan Airport is now known as Lakefront Airport.
Art Deco administration building at Shushan Airport
2010 photo of the restored art deco facade of the Lakefront Airport administration building. Infrogmation photo.
Architectural drawing of the Administration building of Shushan Airport. The state built the airport on the eastern side of the Industrial Canal. Then-governor Huey P. Long authorized the construction of the airport in 1929. The airport opened in 1934. Airport visitors pull up to this splendid example of art deco style. The Army Air Corps hardened the administration building at the outset of World War II. While the original art deco design remained, the AAC covered it with a “bomb proof” exterior. The building underwent extensive renovations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Its original facade was restored, as well as the art deco fixtures, floors, etc., in the interior.
Shushan to Lakefront
architectural rendering of Shushan Airport administration building.
The state originally named the airport after Huey Long ally Abraham Shushan. Long rewarded Shushan’s loyalty (and financial contributions) with a position on the Orleans Parish Levee Board. Shushan became president of that board. That’s why the airport took his name. Shushan got caught up in several political scandals in the 1930s. Abe became a liability to his patron. The Long faction cut him loose and re-named the airport in 1939. It became New Orleans Airport, with the three-letter designation, NEW. When Moisant Field in Kenner evolved into the city’s primary airport, New Orleans Airport became Lakefront Airport. It still retains NEW as its code, with now-named Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport as MSY.
This rendering is part of the Franck Studios collection at THNOC. The architectural firm that created it is uncredited.
Bomber Base
As tensions increased in Europe in the late 1930s, the United States Army Air Corps created antisubmarine aircraft squadrons along the Gulf of Mexico. One of these bomber squadrons operated from Lakefront Airport. While the planes parked at the airport, there wasn’t enough space to house the squadron’s personnel and offices. The Army acquired land on the west side of the Industrial Canal. They built the support facilities for the squadron there. Pilots and maintenance crew worked back and forth across the canal. The western base later became part of Camp Leroy Johnson, an army supply depot.
New Orleans Lakefront Airport (NEW) was the city’s go-to airfield during WWII.
Lakefront Airport
Postcard of New Orleans Airport (NEW) from the 1930s. The image shows a commercial aircraft parked behind the main terminal building, boarding passengers. Image source unknown–if anyone’s done a deep dive on this one, please let me know. The aircraft appears to be a Douglas DC-3.
Delta Airlines 1945
Fast forward to 1945. One of the ads I found in the Times-Picayune for 26-December-1945 was for Delta Airlines. The ad caught my eye for two reasons. First, it was Delta to Dallas. Delta ceased nonstops from New Orleans to Dallas in 2003. The airline filed for bankruptcy then and gave up hub operations at DFW. Delta’s headquarters stands off the runway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta to Dallas? Thing of the past.
The second thing–the flight time! Modern flights to Dallas, say MSY to Love Field (DAL), maybe an hour and ten minutes. Three hours? Well, yeah, it’s not a jet. But still!
The image in this ad looks like a DC-3 as well. The Douglas DC-4 had four engines, and the illustration looks like a two-engine aircraft. The military used the DC-3 as a sleeper aircraft, with 14 bunks. The Army Air Corps version of the plane, the C-47 transported paratroopers and glider troops to Normandy on D-Day.
The gorgeous Art Deco terminal underwent a major renovation in 2012-2013. It’s gorgeous, and merits an article of its own, which we’ll get to at some point.
Moisant Airport in the 1960s. what we now call “the old terminal.”
Moisant Airport
As we approach Thanksgiving and Yuletide, Da Airport picks up its pace. In 1960, what we now think f as “the old terminal” opened for business. These postcard shots of the main terminal at Moisant Field, from Mr. Garrett L. Robertson of Metairie, show the completed front facade and interior. So, the airport, which opened in 1946, operated from a terminal in a large hangar building. Mayor Chep Morrison spearheaded the new terminal project. Construction began in 1959. While this terminal served the airport from 1960 to 2019, calls for a new airport came throughout its history. The “new terminal” opened in 2019.
Moisant Stock Yards
The airport’s IATA code, MSY, stands for Moisant Stock Yards. John Moisant was an aviation pioneer and stunt pilot. He died in a crash on the site of the airport in 1910. Agricultural facilities on the site took his name. New Orleans Lakefront Airport (originally named Sushan Airport) had the IATA code NEW. Therefore, the new airport in Kenner required something different. Moisant fit, hence MSY. The code confounds visitors to this day.
Original Terminal
The main building stood on Airline Highway. It offered an appealing visual as visitors and locals alike came out. The spacious interior included restaurants, lounges, and other amenities for travelers. So, gates extended via a concourse directly behind the terminal building. As the airport grew in capacity, the facility built more gates. Concourses “A” and “B” opened in 1974.
The original gates underwent renovation in 1992, becoming “C” concourse. Additionally, Delta and United Airlines moved to “D” concourse, upon its completion in 1996.
Pops
The airport’s name evolved from Moisant Field to Moisant Airport, to New Orleans International Airport. The airport retained its MSY code throughout. So, in 2001, the Aviation Board officially changed the airport’s name. It became “Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.” This marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late jazz great Louis Armstrong,
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