Louisiana bears the brunt of Hurricane Ida impact on airfreight

This story has been updated to include information from American Airlines. Hurricane Ida left more than 1 million homes and businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi without power this week. Although crews are working to return services to those affected, the storm’s impact led integrators FedEx and UPS to temporarily suspend or reduce service to more than 150 postal codes in Louisiana, while Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) closed on Aug. 30 and is expected to remain closed until Wednesday evening. [caption id="attachment_96790" align="alignright" width="450"] Garyville, LA – Hurricane force wind damage captured in Garyville, and road flooding along I-55 over I-10 looking west. Photo by Daniel Rojas, courtesy of Federal Emergency Management Agency[/caption] Combination carriers including Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Alaska Airlines canceled flights to MSY on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24. FedEx and UPS, meanwhile, diverted scheduled flights destined for MSY into Atlanta (ATL) and Indianapolis (IND), and to Jackson (JAN), Miss., respectively. In its service update, UPS listed 155 Louisiana postal codes as having potential service impacts, while also noting that services in “the South Central part of the U.S.” more generally may be impacted by Ida. For its part, FedEx suspended its Express service in 188 Louisiana ZIP codes. FedEx’s Freight services were also suspended in 179 Louisiana postal codes, while Freight services were also partially disrupted in another 207 Louisiana ZIP codes, as well as seven ZIP codes in Mississippi. Before Ida made landfall, United Cargo had restricted inbound and outbound cargo at MSY from Aug. 28 to Aug. 31, in anticipation of the storm’s impact, according to an Aug. 27 operational bulletin. United updated its restrictions on Aug. 29 to suspend all of United’s cargo operations at MSY “until further notice due to damage sustained from Hurricane Ida.” According to the update, in-transit freight destined for MSY would either be held at the previous cargo station or rerouted, depending on the request of the cargo customer. Delta Cargo also embargoed all its cargo shipments at MSY, as well as at Baton Rouge (BTR) and Lafayette (LFT), initially from Aug. 28 through Aug. 30. However, on Tuesday the carrier extended its embargoes at all three airports at BTR and LFT through Sep. 3, and “until further notice” at MSY. American Airlines Cargo transports a mix of general bulk freight, mail and perishables to and from MSY, a spokesperson told Air Cargo World . The carrier implemented an embargo due to Hurricane Ida on all cargo products, priority parcel service and mail at MSY beginning Aug. 28 and in effect "until further notice." According to an update from MSY, the runways and taxiways at the airport did not experience any damage. However, water pressure, commercial power and landline phones were all disrupted and not all services have been restored. Crews are also in the process of clearing debris from roadways at the airport and repairing damage to the perimeter fence.

Louisiana bears the brunt of Hurricane Ida impact on airfreight

UPS, FedEx suspend services in 150+ Louisiana ZIP codes

Air Wisconsin ventures into freighters with CRJ200SF

The Freight 50: All-cargo carriers reign in 2020

The Freight 50: All-cargo carriers reign in 2020

Cargo Facts Free Newsletters

Cargo Facts Connect Podcast

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password