Flight Training - March/April 2025 - 24

PREFLIGHT ROAD TRIP
BY SUE DURIO
NEW ORLEANS LAKEFRONT AIRPORT
CELEBRATING THE GOLDEN AGE OF AVIATION
TAKE THE LEAP
GETTING THERE
New Orleans Lakefront
Airport (NEW) is one
of Louisiana's busiest
airports, popular
with private and
corporate pilots. It has
approximately 200
flight ops per day.
6001 Stars & Stripes
Blvd.
New Orleans,
Louisiana 70126
504-243-4010
Runway 9/27:
3,113 feet by 75 feet
Runway 18R/36L:
6,880 feet by 150 feet
Runway 18L/36R: 3,697
feet by 75 feet
lakefrontairport.com
POPPING OUT OF THE CLOUD DECK AT 1,200 FEET ON FINAL IFR APPROACH INTO LAKEFRONT AIRPORT
(NEW) in New Orleans, the first thing that may impress you is the water all around it. About half of
New Orleans is below sea-level, so without some human intervention back in the 1930s, its premier
GA airport would have been too. It took the Orleans Levee Board back then to pump in six
million yards of hydraulic fill and add 10,000 feet of seawall to raise the field to acceptable levels
above Lake Pontchartrain. That engineering feat, and the jaw-dropping Art Deco terminal building,
drew 10,000 people to the airport's opening dedication in 1934. The largest and most modern air
terminal in the United States, the facility encompassed a post office, hospital, outdoor swimming
pool, dining room, and commercial kitchen. Private sleeping quarters and baths provided respite
for Immigration and Customs officers. Amelia Earhart was a frequent patron, spending a night
in the airport's hotel en route to her final flight. But it was the interior and exterior finish that
earned accolades from the flying and general public alike. The Art Deco façade elements, like the
" Spirit of Aviation " figure over the entrance, teased guests to what they would discover inside. The
extravagant interior incorporated five types of Spanish marble, multicolored terrazzo, and an inlaid
brass compass in the main lobby floors. Travertine stair treads and aluminum Art Deco railings led
visitors to the mezzanine balcony for a closer look at the painted tile coffered ceilings and massive
molded glass custom light fixtures. The Levee District commissioned renowned artist Xavier
Gonzalez to paint eight murals to encircle the second-floor atrium, each depicting a historic flight
corresponding to the compass rose in the floor below. All that was almost lost in the 1960s during
the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the terminal became a bomb shelter, and its Art Deco exterior
covered by thick concrete panels. Inside, the stunning balcony was covered by a false floor, offices
replaced the atrium, and many of Gonzalez' murals were covered. Were it not for another crisis,
this one the destruction and flooding left behind by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which prompted a
multi-year restaoration, this story might still be one in the past tense.
SUE DURIO is a freelance writer who flies with her husband in their Cessna 310.
WHY YOU SHOULD GO
A guest book in the terminal's lobby is testament to Lakefront Airport's
draw as a tourist attraction.
24 FLIGHT TRAINING MARCH/APRIL 2025
Flight Over Mount
Everest, a mural
painted by artist
Xavier Gonzalez.
Messina's Runway Café
504-241-5300
Flightline First
504-244-4448
Signature Flight
Support
504-241-2800
SUE DURIO

http://www.lakefrontairport.com

Flight Training - March/April 2025

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