On July 5, 2001 the City Council unanimously approved the New Orleans Aviation Board's proposal to rename the New Orleans International Airport in honor of the great Louis Armstrong. A renaming ceremony at the airport on August 2, 2001--two days before the trumpeteer's 100th anniversary--will make the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport a reality. We couldn't resist taking the opportunity to remember Louis Armstrong and the history of the airport in this month's images gallery.

The airport opened to the public in 1946 as Moisant International commemorating the life and career of John B. Moisant, a pioneer aviator who died in a plane crash in the Kenner area. In 1962 its name changed for the first time--to New Orleans International Airport--in order to more closely identify the facility with the city despite its location in Jefferson Parish. With the new name change the airport will be immediately recognizable worldwide thanks to the international fame of its namesake. Moisant will still be remembered with the airport's code letters--MSY (for Moisant Stock Yards).

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