Airport Commissioners Approve $1.5B Bradley Terminal Upgrade
By Art Marroquin, Staff Writer
September 21, 2009
The Board of Airport Commissioners on Monday approved a $1.5 billion plan aimed at providing more room for overseas travelers and building gates capable of accommodating larger jetliners coming in and out of Los Angeles International Airport.
The massive project, dubbed "Bradley West," is expected to be completed by mid-2013 and funded entirely by the sale of airport bonds, LAX officials said.
"The work that's being proposed is work that needs to be done for the benefit of the city," Airport Commissioner Walter Zifkin said. "What we're embarking on is something that needs to be done."
Plans call for building nine new airline gates at the Tom Bradley International Terminal aimed at serving the next generation of super-sized jumbo jets, including the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Two of those gates are scheduled to open by early 2012,
when LAX is expected to serve more Airbus A380 flights than any other airport in North America.
The new gates are also expected to reduce the need for requiring A380 passengers to use "remote gates" located at the west end of the airport, officials said. Travelers using the faraway gates must catch a shuttle to the Bradley terminal, where they are screened by federal authorities.
Several international carriers, including Qantas Airways, had said they would pull A380 service from LAX if the airport continued using the remote gates. Airport officials partially addressed that concern last year, when one gate was immediately reconfigured at the Bradley terminal.
"Qantas and some of the other airlines wanted to make sure we had a plan that would serve the A380 without using those remote gates, and we're giving them a better plan than what they ever asked for," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who chairs the council committee that oversees LAX.
Additionally, the Bradley terminal's old concourse area will be demolished to make way for two entirely new concourses on the north and south sides of the building, leading to the addition of 1 million square feet for ticketing desks, baggage claim areas, security screening, lounges, shops and restaurants.
An expanded federal customs inspection area will be built at the Bradley terminal, along with a pair of secured corridors connecting with Terminals 3 and 4 to provide easier access for airline passengers needing to catch another flight.
Plans also call for relocating a pair of taxiways, which will lead to demolishing the American Eagle Commuter Terminal. A new lease approved earlier this year calls for moving American Eagle's commuter operations to a vacant terminal just east of Terminal 8.
The Bradley West project now goes to the City Council for final consideration.
"This airport is the first point many international travelers will see when they come into the United States, so it's important that we give them something modern," said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes LAX.
Previous plans for LAX were based on projections of a significant increase in travelers and flights, but airport officials and local economists now say the upgrades are needed to improve a long-neglected facility that is routinely criticized as inadequate and dilapidated.
However, international carriers have expressed concerns about paying higher fees to pay for the upgrades to the Bradley terminal, especially as passenger numbers continue to dwindle nationwide amid the ongoing economic recession.
LAX, which was designed to handle 40 million passengers annually, has suffered its own share of severe declines over the last two years. The airport served 68 million travelers at its peak in 2000, but that number dropped to 59.5 million passengers in 2008, and is anticipated to decline even further by the end of this year.
"All the international airlines are struggling and having a hard time, no matter if you go to Asia or Europe, so anything that smacks of higher costs is something they're afraid of," said Jack Kyser, senior vice president and chief economist of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.
"At the same time, they have been calling for changes to Los Angeles International Airport for a long time," Kyser said. "Even though the airline forecast through 2010 is pretty scary, I think that over the long term this project will help us attract more business travelers and international tourists."
A daily round-trip overseas flight at LAX generates $623 million annually and provides 3,120 local jobs, according to an LAEDC report released two years ago.
The city has spent more than $250 million to examine how to upgrade the airport since 1993, when former Mayor Richard Riordan proposed a $12 billion plan that would have expanded the airport's capacity to handle 100 million passengers annually. That plan was set aside when airport neighbors complained that scores of homes and businesses would be demolished.
Then, former Mayor James K. Hahn came up with a $11 billion plan that called for an off-site ground transportation center in Manchester Square, where all passengers and baggage would have been screened. Security experts criticized that plan and said it increased the potential for terrorism because the facility concentrated airline passengers in a single location.
Shortly after taking office in 2005, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa scrapped most of Hahn's proposal and agreed to cap the airport at 78.9 million annual passengers, under the terms of a settlement reached with the county, three cities surrounding LAX and a community group opposed to airport expansion.
On Monday, one of those former opponents lauded the new plan for the Bradley terminal.
"How can we argue with making it safer, nice and more appropriate?" Denny Schneider, president of the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, told the airport commission.