=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/06/02/f= inancial0900EDT0029.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, June 2, 2004 (AP) Progress is slow in efforts to fix the mess at LAX SCOTT MCCARTNEY, The Wall Street Journal (06-02) 06:00 PDT (AP) -- Just like crime labs, courtrooms and police stations, airports have a steady diet of drama and tension -- and none more than Los Angeles International. The airport, rebuilt for the 1984 Olympics, is in dire need of modernization. Plans have been drawn and redrawn, but left grounded by political turmoil. Now, the city is getting close to some crucial decisions. For travelers, what happens in the next few months matters because LAX is such a crucial gateway for international travel, not just to Asia but also to Europe. It's the busiest airport in the world, in terms of passengers beginning or ending a trip there (excluding connecting passengers). Sooner or later, most all of us wait in lines at LAX. Its revamp is one of several big airport expansions nationwide that are reshaping the traveler's experience right now. Atlanta plans to open a new $982 million international terminal in late 2006, part of a 10-year, $5.4 billion redevelopment. The New York area's international airports are getting significant makeovers: Newark, N.J., is nearing the end of a $3.8 billion plan that included train service and a new international-arrivals facility in Terminal C. In recent months, New York Kennedy added train service between terminals, and before that, it got a new $1.4 billion international-arrivals building. Dallas is building a new international terminal now, too. At LAX, among the hot issues is a plan to build a costly central check-in facility -- more than a mile away from the boarding gates. The design is being touted as a new model for airport security. The airport has a lot of catching up to do if it wants to be more user-friendly. Currently, the Tom Bradley International Terminal's lounges for some 747 flights have only about 40 seats for each 400-passenger plane. Large floor fans try to keep the terminal cool, because the air-conditioning cannot keep up. With only 12 gates, many airlines have to bus passengers out to jets parked near the beach. And once you clear security, food inside the terminal means a hot dog stand, and retail shopping offers nothing more than a candy stand. No wonder that in passenger surveys, Los Angeles ranks among the lowest = in customer satisfaction in the world. "We tell people to come to the airport three hours early, and this is what they find," says Frank Clark of Laxtec Corp., a nonprofit consortium of 45 airlines operating at the airport. Last month, LAX was singled out by airlines as the laggard among the world's airports in preparations for the new Airbus A380, a double-deck "super-jumbo" jet capable of carrying 550 passengers. London's Heathrow Airport has been pouring concrete for more than a year, but LAX won't start widening taxiways until early next year. The airport says it will be ready before the plane is ready, and will have a couple of gates jury-rigged for the A380. The problems at the Los Angeles airport aren't confined to passenger comfort, there are safety issues as well. The Federal Aviation Administration has been pushing hard for a new taxiway between two parallel runways because LAX has suffered numerous runway incursions, where one jet passes into the path of another on the ground. Jets have a habit of landing on one runway, turning off at high speeds and then failing to stop before getting to the parallel runway. To fix the problem, the southernmost runway has to be moved 55 feet to t= he south. The change also will "help accommodate the monster" -- the Airbus A380 -- says Kim Day, interim executive director of Los Angeles World Airports. The airport hopes it can start construction on that project next year, with a center taxiway open in 2008. But that schedule may be optimistic. One reason: The project is dependent on an airport master plan. And thou= gh L.A.has spent 10 years studying modernization plans, one hasn't been approved. The fourth iteration, called "Alternative D," limits capacity increases and is said to improve security, but is highly divisive because of the central check-in facility. Passengers would check in at a new building on Century Boulevard, then take trains to the terminals. Other airports have gone to more centralized check-in, with train service to gates, including Las Vegas and Atlanta. But Los Angeles would take things further. And although it is billed as a security improvement, some of those benefits have been questioned amid concerns that a huge single check-in area would itself become a terrorism target. That's under study right now. Airlines hate "Alternative D" because it's costly -- $9 billion, or about double what a new airport in Denver cost -- and calls for the central terminal first. Other issues, like crowded passenger terminals, wouldn't be addressed for another decade. The four-engine A380 plane, with a wing span nearly 50 feet wider than a 747, is designed just for busy airports like LAX. Seven airlines -- Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Singapore, Malaysia, Korean, Lufthansa and Air France -- plus FedEx plan to fly the A380 to Los Angeles. The first was to be Virgin in the summer of 2006, but it pushed back its first delivery from Airbus to the end of 2007. Virgin blamed the delay partly on problems at airports, specifically LAX. The flying pleasure palace (Virgin is considering putting a Jacuzzi onboard) may have trouble docking at LAX. The leaseholders of Virgin's Terminal 2 includes Northwest Airlines and two airlines in bankruptcy, Air Canada and Hawaiian. Those carriers don't seem wild about spending millions for double-decker jet bridges to serve the A380. And the A380 is so big that anytime Virgin parks one there, there's less room for the other carriers. "Modifications would be required, and if put into place would affect the operations of airlines using the terminal," says a spokeswoman for Northwest, who declined further comment. If things are bad for A380 passengers at LAX, the plane may actually make life worse for lots of other travelers as well. When it parks at either of its two gates at the Bradley international terminal, separate from Terminal 2, 747s will no longer fit at adjacent gates. That means some 747s will get bumped to remote parking, cramming more people into the bus lounge to get to the plane. There are alternatives -- in other cities. San Francisco opened a new international terminal in 2000. Vancouver offers great connections to Asia, Las Vegas is growing an international gateway, and Phoenix has tried to pitch its airport as an LAX alternative. As a stopgap measure, LAX is scheduled to start a three-year, $225 milli= on refurbishment of the Bradley terminal early next year. The antiquated baggage system will be replaced and there will be new air-conditioning, jetways and carpet. But after the changes, the building, which scores a C-minus on the International Air Transport Association's facility scoring system, will still be a C-minus, Mr. Clark of Laxtec says. Airlines have been pushing to change the order of master-plan projects, starting with just $3 billion to fix the most critical needs first. Expanding the international is a top priority, but requires moving a taxiway, a fire station, a hangar and other facilities. This fall, NBC plans to air a new television drama, "LAX," starring Heather Locklear as the airfield's chief. She may be able to solve problems every hour -- but the real LAX isn't as easily fixed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP