I was in NOLA last December and went by Air Reldan to rent a C172 and generally fly around the area. The 172 was pretty old, the avionics were horrible, the radios were almost worthless, the CFI showed up late, complained he was missing lunch, rushed me to get back to the airport, and then left early. The staff behind the counter seemed pretty unconcerned about anything. I wasn't too impressed. Later I talked to a guy up in Hammond who seemed a lot more personable, although that's kind of far from Lakefront. Good luck.