Is that New Orleans? Think so. Flew in and out of there on way to Alabama. No issues. Home base is DIA (Denver, CO) and I have yet to find an airport that's worse than Denver. Denver takes you to a second room, X-rays your guns, pretends to know what they are doing, and adds a good 15-30 minutes of because-we-can-f***-you-over time to your itinerary.
On another forum a member had the locks cut on a couple pistols and guns stolen while in the possession of the airline. This was in Philly, PA. a d American airlines. Take pics and have serial numbers documented.
I flew into and out of NO with a firearm a couple times and if you follow the rules you should have no issues. Once after checking my firearms I proceeded to the gate only to be called back to ticketing. A cop was looking at the case when I asked what the problem was?…,he said “no problem, everything’s fine” so I don’t know why they called me back other than to cause me to sweat more and stress more than I already was. 😀
I thought the process in and out of NO was smoother than I would have expected and that was a pleasant surprise.
Good luck and safe travels.
�Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician.� �General George S. Patton, Jr.
I know this is a vague & indirect non-answer to your question, but as a Louisiana native I assumed that James Reeves of TFBTV (The Firearm Blog TV) who lives in NOLA flies out of MSY with guns a lot. A quick check of their channel has him doing a Top 10 review of problematic airports for having guns seized. He actually does the segment from inside the MSY terminal. While it uses confiscation statistics as its basis, it doesn't rate the overall convenience or smoothness of the process which could be bad in some places even if you eventually go on your way. Spoiler alert: MSY makes #9 on the list but the count is still single-digit per million travelers. It seems to me if he had any regular hassles flying out of this airport he would have definitely pointed that out in the most colorful way possible.
I never had any trouble flying out of MSY in the past, but I have not flown out of there with a firearm since the opening of the new terminal. I used to be able to watch my gun go through the scanner before heading for the gate, and nobody had any problem with declared guns. I don't know about the current situation. Are the people posting in this thread talking about the new terminal or the old terminal? The new terminal came online around the time that Covid hit. I am interested in knowing that as much as the OP.
Originally Posted by odonata
I know this is a vague & indirect non-answer to your question, but as a Louisiana native I assumed that James Reeves of TFBTV (The Firearm Blog TV) who lives in NOLA flies out of MSY with guns a lot. A quick check of their channel has him doing a Top 10 review of problematic airports for having guns seized.
The text below the video says that it pertains to guns seized at TSA checkpoints, which appears to include passengers going through screening and may or may not include baggage checks or people declaring guns at the airport per the proper procedures.
"Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" - Abraham Lincoln
Pretty much everything in Denver sucks! I’ll add several hundred miles to a trip to avoid driving through Kolorado! memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
Home base is DIA (Denver, CO) and I have yet to find an airport that's worse than Denver. Denver takes you to a second room, X-rays your guns, pretends to know what they are doing, and adds a good 15-30 minutes of because-we-can-f***-you-over time to your itinerary.
Speaking of DIA, have procedures gotten any more draconian there since CO repealed preemption and cities like Denver have passed their own local ordinances? Aside from the time issue, the second room procedure didn't really bother because I knew it had been screened so I wouldn't be getting a call to come back to the terminal. But, the last time I flew out of MCO, I had to be escorted on an elevator ride to another floor for the "second room" screening, which was more hassle than DIA.
"Don't believe everything you see on the Internet" - Abraham Lincoln
After action report: Big picture, it was easier to check the gun at MSY than PHX.
Phoenix process: Declare gun at ticket counter, give them other bag, yes gun is unloaded, sign declaration, tape to case, ticket person escorts you to tsa fenced off area, hand bag to angry tsa woman, hand key to angry tsa woman, watch angry tsa woman rifle through your bag, unlock case, check gun unloaded, swipe check for bomb residue, relock case, angry tsa woman "repacks" bag, returns key, sends bag off to luggage area.
New Orleans process: Declare gun at ticket counter, give them other bag, yes gun is unloaded, sign declaration, toss declaration in case, show ticket person case is locked, ticket person takes bag, sends bag off to luggage area. That was it, never had to open the case. Bonus points for response to "I'm checking a handgun.": "No Problem."
Both airports the handgun bag had to be picked up in the baggage claim office, and the other bag came out on the carousel. Both airports got that bag to the office pretty quickly. This is somewhat of a miracle at Phoenix, which is still my favorite airport but has historically slow baggage delivery. Last night was a pleasant exception.
