What Concourse Is Southwest at New Orleans MSY Airport?

Southwest Airlines is in Concourse B at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). Gates B1 through B18. That’s the short answer, and if you’re already rushing through the terminal with a carry-on banging against your hip, that’s all you need. But if you’ve got a few minutes before your flight boards — or you’re trying to plan ahead so you don’t repeat the mistake I made my first time through the rebuilt MSY — stick around, because the new terminal layout catches a lot of people off guard.

I fly through New Orleans a few times a year, usually connecting between the Gulf Coast and the mid-Atlantic. When the new terminal opened, I showed up expecting the old setup and spent an embarrassing amount of time walking in the wrong direction before a gate agent pointed me back toward check-in. The new MSY is genuinely beautiful and well-designed, but it doesn’t look anything like what you might remember or what half the travel sites out there still describe.

Southwest at MSY — Concourse B

Southwest operates exclusively out of Concourse B, which runs from Gate B1 to Gate B18. The concourse is on the eastern side of the new terminal building. When you walk through the main entrance off Veterans Memorial Boulevard, the Southwest check-in counters are on the lower level — ticketing is clearly marked, and the Southwest desk sits toward the right side of the check-in hall if you’re facing the counters head-on.

After check-in, you’ll head upstairs (escalators and elevators are both available, and they’re not hidden — this terminal was actually designed with signage that makes sense) to reach the TSA security checkpoint. MSY has a single, centralized security checkpoint that serves the entire terminal. You don’t go through a separate checkpoint for Concourse B specifically. Everyone funnels through the same lanes, and then the terminal splits into concourses on the other side.

Once you clear security, follow the signs toward Concourse B. It’s a straight shot — the terminal is a single linear building, so there’s no train, no underground walkway, no surprise bus transfer. Just walk. Depending on which end of security you exit from, you’re looking at roughly a three-to-five minute walk to reach the start of Concourse B.

Which Gates Does Southwest Use — and Does It Change

Southwest uses B1 through B18, but the specific gate your flight departs from will vary by day and by schedule. Don’t assume your usual gate. Check the departure boards when you clear security, and check again about 30 minutes before departure. Southwest does swap gates occasionally, especially during weather delays — New Orleans gets its share of those, particularly in summer thunderstorm season and hurricane season (June through November).

Gates B1 through B6 are closest to the main terminal hub. Gates B12 through B18 push further down the concourse and feel a bit more removed from the main cluster of food and retail. If you’re at B16 or B18, budget an extra few minutes from security — you’re not dealing with a long walk by major-airport standards, but it’s not nothing either.

Curbside Check-In and Bag Drop

Southwest offers curbside check-in at MSY. The curbside area is on the departures level outside the main terminal. I’d call it convenient if traffic cooperates, which during Mardi Gras season or Jazz Fest weekend — it often does not. The curbside agents are efficient, though. Tip: $2 to $3 per bag is standard, and having your ID ready before you get out of the car saves everyone time.

Probably should have opened with this section, honestly — but if you’re traveling with just a carry-on, you can skip all of this and go straight to the security line. Southwest’s free bag policy means a lot of their passengers actually do check bags, so the counters can have a line. Factor in an extra 10 to 15 minutes if you’re checking luggage on a busy travel day.

Navigating the New MSY Terminal

The old MSY terminal — the one that operated until 2019 — was, to put it charitably, a patchwork. It had been patched and expanded so many times over the decades that navigating it felt like exploring a building that didn’t want to be explored. The new terminal opened in November 2019, replacing all of that with a single, purpose-built facility. It’s about 972,000 square feet and cost roughly $1 billion to complete.

Surprised by the scale of that number when I first read it. Then I walked through the new building and it made sense.

The design is a single-terminal, dual-concourse layout. Concourse B is for Southwest and a handful of other carriers. Concourse C handles American, Delta, United, and international arrivals. There is no Concourse A — the lettering starts at B. First-time visitors sometimes ask where Concourse A is. It doesn’t exist. That’s not an error on the departure board.

The Single Security Checkpoint — What It Means for Timing

Having one central security checkpoint is a double-edged thing. On quiet Tuesday mornings, it moves fast. During peak holiday travel — Thanksgiving, Christmas, the week before Mardi Gras — that single checkpoint becomes a bottleneck. TSA PreCheck lanes are available and well-marked. If you have PreCheck, use it. The lanes at MSY tend to be shorter relative to the standard lines compared to what I’ve seen at similarly sized airports.

Plan to arrive at least 90 minutes before a domestic Southwest flight. Two hours if you’re checking bags or if you know the travel dates overlap with a major New Orleans event. The city’s event calendar is genuinely relentless. French Quarter Fest, Essence Fest, Voodoo Fest, the Sugar Bowl — these fill the terminal and the roads leading to it.

Getting to MSY — Ground Transportation Notes

The airport is in Kenner, Louisiana, about 15 miles from the French Quarter. Ride-share pickups happen on the lower level, baggage claim side. Uber and Lyft are both permitted. A ride to the Quarter typically runs $25 to $40 depending on traffic and surge pricing. The Airport-Downtown Express bus (the E2 line) is $2.00 and runs to the Union Passenger Terminal on Loyola Avenue — slower, obviously, but a real option if you’re not in a rush and traveling light.

Confounded by the parking garage layout on my second visit, I accidentally ended up in the wrong elevator bank and came out nowhere near where I expected. The parking structure is connected to the terminal, but the signage inside the garage is less intuitive than the terminal itself. Take a photo of your level and section. Classic advice. I ignored it. Don’t be me.

Food and Lounges Near Southwest Gates

The food situation in Concourse B is genuinely good — better than most airports of MSY’s size have any business being. After security and before you hit the B gates, you’ll pass through the main terminal hub, which has the bulk of the dining and retail. That’s where you want to stop if you’re early.

Restaurants Worth Knowing About

Café Du Monde is in the terminal. Yes, the actual Café Du Monde — beignets and café au lait. It’s not a themed knockoff. The beignets are $5.49 for an order, and they will cover you in powdered sugar. Do not wear a dark shirt if you plan to eat here before boarding. I have made this mistake. It is not recoverable with a napkin.

Ye Olde College Inn has a presence in the terminal — it’s a New Orleans institution that’s been around since 1933, and the airport outpost does po-boys and plate lunches. Prices are airport-inflated but not egregious. A roast beef po-boy runs around $16 to $18. Fully dressed means lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, and mustard. Ask for it that way if you’re ordering at the counter and want the full experience.

Starbucks is available near the main hub — two locations, actually, on either side of security. If you need coffee before you clear TSA, there’s one in the ticketing hall. After security, there’s another near the concourse split point.

Charging Stations and Quiet Spots

Charging stations are built into seating throughout Concourse B. The USB-A and USB-C ports are standard — no proprietary connectors. Bring your own cable. The charging capability is real and functional, which is not something you can say about every airport’s built-in USB ports. I tested several on my last visit. All of them worked.

Quiet areas are harder to come by in B concourse during busy periods. If you need relative calm, the far end of the concourse near gates B15 through B18 tends to be less crowded when flights aren’t actively boarding from those gates. It’s not silent, but it’s less chaotic than the hub. There’s no dedicated quiet room or sensory-reduced space in Concourse B as of my last visit, though the terminal overall has good acoustics — it doesn’t echo and amplify noise the way older terminals do.

No Dedicated Airline Lounge for Southwest

Southwest doesn’t operate a dedicated lounge at MSY. They don’t have a lounge network at any airport — that’s just not part of their model. If you want lounge access at MSY, the only option is the Chase Sapphire Lounge or a Priority Pass partner space, and as of 2024, MSY does not have a Priority Pass lounge. The terminal is comfortable enough that this matters less than it would at a hub with a six-hour layover situation, but it’s worth knowing before you go searching for a door with a lounge logo on it.

Bottom line — Southwest is in Concourse B, gates B1 through B18, check-in on the lower level, one security checkpoint for the whole terminal, and the food is actually worth arriving early for. New Orleans makes a compelling case for itself even in airport form.