Numerous Airlines to Change Terminals at LAX Beginning May 12

by Gary Toebben

Beginning the night of Friday, May 12, the largest airline terminal relocation in the history of aviation will take place at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Delta Air Lines will relocate all their gates from Terminals 5 and 6 to Terminals 2 and 3. The airlines that are Delta partners and are currently located in Terminals 2 and 3 will remain in those terminals. Most of the other airlines currently located in Terminals 2 and 3 will move to the terminals being vacated by Delta on the south side of the airport. This move will impact 370 departures, or 40 percent of LAX's operations.

An immense amount of work and planning has gone into preparing for this move. You may have already seen billboards, commercials and collateral materials at the airport on how to prepare for the changes coming in May. Everyone who works at the airport or serves air travelers is being trained on what to expect during the transition and what information air travelers will need during this time of change. If you, your family, friends, employees or acquaintances are traveling on May 12 or the week following, please share with them this information and visit #LAXontheMove web site.

These relocations during the week beginning May 12 are one very important step toward the long-term LAX goal of remodeling all of its terminals and improving the customer experience throughout the airport. It marks the first stage of Delta's $1.9 billion investment at LAX between now and 2024 (Chamber member Gensler is the architect on the Delta project at LAX). Delta's upgrades will reconstruct the badly-outdated Terminal 3 and connect Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 to Tom Bradley International (TBIT) for a seamless transition for passengers. By co-locating Delta flights near their partners, passengers with connecting flights will no longer need to traverse the congested Central Terminal Area to get to the next leg of their journey. Additionally, by moving one of the three large carriers from the south side of the airport to the north side, pressure will be relieved from the southern airfield, improving arrival and departure times airport-wide.

During the last five years, all of our major carriers: Delta, United, American and Southwest have made major investments in their facilities at LAX. And for each of these airlines, millions of dollars in additional investments are planned for the future. Thank you to all of our carriers and Delta for your most recent commitment of $1.9 billion to L.A. This investment is just one component of a much larger plan by all stakeholders to improve the efficiency and customer experience at the number one origin and destination airport in the U.S. When the Landside Access Modernization Program, which will connect the airport to Metro is added to the investments planned, we can look forward to $15 billion in improvements at LAX over the next seven years.

But for now, let's focus on the short term. Please make sure to check your terminal and gate in advance when traveling to LAX for departures and arrivals. Your advance planning and your patience will help build an LAX that we can all be proud of in the future.

And that's The Business Perspective.