Super Bowl XLVII: New Orleans and Gulf Coast Facilities Score Touchdowns With Massive Traffic Count
Thursday, February 07, 2013


New Orleans-Lakefront (NEW). Aerial Photo Courtesy of Jay Taffet/JMT Aviation and Hawthorne Global Aviation Services.

Once Beyoncé, the blackout and the Baltimore Ravens all completed their time in the Super Bowl XLVII spotlight, the real fun – the Super Bowl of Air Traffic Control – began for NATCA members throughout the New Orleans and Gulf Coast regions last week, as they handled a large amount of traffic and related responsibilities.

While there was one notable record set by the game – it was the third most-watched program in U.S. television history – there was also one very notable statistic registered by Houston Center: Monday was the second-busiest day EVER at the facility.

Below are first-hand accounts from several of the facilities involved:

Houston Center (ZHU)
David Salapata, ZHU New Orleans Area Representative

“We work the entire airspace around MSY (New Orleans Louis Armstrong Tower). Having dealt with BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Championship games and the NCAA Final Four, both in New Orleans in 2012, we were able to see our problem areas for route structure, etc., during extreme volume. Thus in joint effort between MSY TRACON and ZHU, we were able to create a new arrival and departure structure specifically for the Super Bowl.  

“We split our two heaviest arrivals (from north and west; normally the same arrival for both New Orleans Lakefront Tower and MSY), thus creating separate arrival streams for each airport. This allowed us to work twice the volume in/out of TRACON area.

“We had extra staffing in the area. Normally, we have 7-8 radar positions open and anywhere from 3-5 D-sides open. The arrival flow was pretty steady throughout the week and was particularly heavy on Thursday (Jan. 31) and Friday (Feb. 1).

“On Sunday (Feb. 3) we had the military cap with three different tankers and two different fighter squadrons and they swapped shifts around halftime. We had nine controllers until 2 a.m. for the heavy departure push after the game; four of which stayed all night. I believe almost 300 aircraft departed Sunday night.

“On Monday (Feb. 4), the real fun began. Monday was officially ZHU's second busiest day ever, as we handled about 2,100 operations more than average. Only the evacuation of Texas and Louisiana coasts after Hurricane Katrina and before Hurricane Rita in 2005 topped it. Our area had all eight sectors and 4-6 D-sides, where needed. Most sectors east of I90 (Houston TRACON) were at or near saturation during this period.

“Honestly, at times it was pretty crazy as MSY TRACON kept sending departure after departure. But I don’t believe we once asked for any relief or miles in trail from TRACON. There were no safety events, separation errors or deviations for the entire Super Bowl week in our area.

“I know our facility has heard from NBAA (National Business Aviation Association) and they seemed really pleased with the overall flow from ground at MSY/NEW (New Orleans-Louis Armstrong Airport/New Orleans Lakefront) to en route environment.”


New Orleans – Louis Armstrong Tower and TRACON (MSY)
Larry Knighten

“Overall, it went well. We had the staffing that we needed. Everybody was expecting it to be days where we were outside the normal count. The TMC specialists were great. ZHU did a great job with the in-trail spacing. It was a success overall.

“That was definitely the busiest traffic I’ve seen in my nine years at MSY. Guys that have been here longer than me say it wasn’t the busiest ever. For the 1997 Super Bowl, they had a 1,900-count day. This past Monday (Feb. 4), we had 1,661. But we could have handled 1,900. We expected Friday (Feb. 1) to be our heaviest day. But Thursday (Jan. 31) and Monday were heaviest as far as numbers. For numbers, I’m sure the controllers in Chicago and Dallas would laugh! But for our region and area, it was more than we normally have. For us it was busy.

“Our biggest area of congestion was the 747s, 767s and 757s picking up crews and other people. We were congested on the ground because we don’t have the space to park the bigger air carriers.

“As far as in the radar room, it went fairly well having additional positions open. We already had prearranged coordination with ZHU as far as departure routes and arrival routes. We split our airspace so that MSY departures would be routed climbing to the northwest and those at NEW would go to the northeast. Then ZHU would climb them.

“Staffing was good. There were plenty of people in the building to open extra positions. We had the assist positions open. The coordinated position was also open; dealing with departures off satellite airports like Slidell and Hammond.”

Traffic count for MSY:
Thursday (Jan. 31): 1022
Friday (Feb. 1): 1108
Saturday (Feb. 2): 819
Sunday (Feb. 3): 932
Monday (Feb. 4): 1661


New Orleans-Lakefront Tower (NEW)
Jose Ruiz

"For the amount of planes that we had and the level of traffic that we are used to seeing, everything ran smoothly. We shut down two runways and other various taxiways and used them for parking. Sunday night we were pretty much departures only, so we tried to pump out as much as possible right after the game. 

"The next morning's crew came in without skipping a beat and kept pumping them out like a well-oiled machine. Our facility did great and MSY did a phenomenal job. It was wonderful to see us all come together and work as a team."


New Orleans-Lakefront (NEW). Aerial Photo Courtesy of Jay Taffet/JMT Aviation and Hawthorne Global Aviation Services.

Christina Hill

“I saw the best of the best during our Super Bowl traffic! New Orleans Lakefront, coupled with MSY approach, had to have taken the brunt of the traffic. On any given day, NEW would be lucky to break 200 (mix of VFR and IFR traffic). We are a level 5 VFR tower with 10 controllers. Monday after the Super Bowl was over 600 IFR. Most hours we were able to get over 50 in and out IFR with one runway. We had close to almost 500 aircraft parked on the airport through the weekend.

“We weren't without help. I’d like to recognize Rosie Runs Through from Fort Worth-Meacham (FTW), John Famularo from DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth), Scott Stoeckle from ZHU Traffic Management Unit and Mike Geiger of I90. Couldn't have done it without them! They were dropped in the middle of a special event and meshed immediately.”


Baton Rouge (BTR)
Marshall Baker


Baton Rouge (BTR)

“BTR was used as a staging and overflow airport. Once the airports in the New Orleans area had no more parking space, the extra aircraft came to BTR.

“Our traffic came at three different times. Most of the day Friday, we handled mainly inbounds and aircraft shuttling back and forth between BTR and MSY or NEW. Our workload was increased due to the numbers of aircraft and temporary procedures that were in place between BTR, MSY and ZHU.

“On Sunday, the traffic increased the closer we approached the end of the game, mostly with aircraft repositioning back to MSY. Monday we were quite busy with all the departing traffic and the fact that many of the aircraft were going to MSY to pick up passengers, and there was an ESP in effect. By 4 p.m., things at BTR had returned to normal. We did have several shifts of overtime throughout the long weekend, and three assist positions had to be opened. Because the procedures worked very well, and the inbound traffic was spread over three days, our facility did not get overwhelmed.”


Gulfport (GPT)
Don Savage

"GPT did not have the traffic event leading up to the Super Bowl that we had anticipated, and saw only a slight increase in numbers on Friday and Saturday. The most concentrated traffic occurred Monday morning. Fortunately  we were staffed accordingly for the extra traffic, after arranging for ZHU management to communicate with our ATM to assure him that the extra staffing was needed.
 
"Thanks to the pre-Super Bowl meetings we had with our FBO Million Air, and airport operations, we were prepared for a much bigger traffic event at GPT. I believe that had the heavier traffic actually occurred it would have been handled just as smoothly.
 
"As far as I know, all the procedures put in place to help MSY and ZHU, especially for the departure egress from the New Orleans area, worked as intended."