Los Angeles International Airport

History

In 1928, the Los Angeles City Council selected 640 acres (1.00 sq mi; 260 ha) in the southern part of Westchester for a new airport. The fields of wheat, barley and lima beans were converted into dirt landing strips without any terminal buildings. It was named Mines Field for William W. Mines, the real estate agent who arranged the deal. The first structure, Hangar No. 1, was erected in 1929 and is in the National Register of Historic Places.

Mines Field opened as the airport of Los Angeles in 1930 and the city purchased it to be a municipal airfield in 1937. The name became Los Angeles Airport in 1941 and Los Angeles International Airport in 1949. In the 1930s the main airline airports were Burbank Airport (then known as Union Air Terminal, and later Lockheed) in Burbank and the Grand Central Airport in Glendale. (In 1940 the airlines were all at Burbank except for Mexicana's three departures a week from Glendale; in late 1946 most airline flights moved to LAX, but Burbank always retained a few.)

Mines Field did not extend west of Sepulveda Boulevard; Sepulveda was rerouted circa 1950 to loop around the west ends of the extended east–west runways (now runways 25L and 25R), which by November 1950 were 6,000 feet (1,800 m) long. A tunnel was completed in 1953 allowing Sepulveda Boulevard to revert to straight and pass beneath the two runways; it was the first tunnel of its kind. For the next few years the two runways were 8,500 feet (2,600 m) long.

The "X" in LAX

Before the 1930s, existing airports used a two-letter abbreviation based on the weather stations at the airports. At that time, "LA" served as the designation for Los Angeles Airport. But with the rapid growth in the aviation industry the designations expanded to three letters c. 1947, and "LA" became "LAX." The letter "X" has no specific meaning in this identifier. "LAX" is also used for the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro and by Amtrak for Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Aircraft spotting

The "Imperial Hill" area (also known as Clutter's Park) in El Segundo is a prime location for aircraft spotting, especially for takeoffs. Another popular spotting location sits under the final approach for runways 24 L&R on a lawn next to the Westchester In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard. This is one of the few remaining locations in Southern California from which spotters may watch such a wide variety of low-flying commercial airliners from directly underneath a flight path. During Santa Ana conditions in late October/early November, traffic patterns are reversed so that departures occur to the east and arrivals continue out over the Pacific and turn in, passing over Dockweiler State Beach before landing on the western end of the runways.

Space Shuttle Endeavour

At 12:51 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2012, a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at LAX on runway 25L. An estimated 10,000 people saw the shuttle land. Interstate 105 was backed up for miles at a standstill. Imperial Highway was shut down for spectators. It was quickly taken off the Boeing 747 and was moved to a United Airlines hangar. The shuttle spent about a month in the hangar while it was prepared to be transported to the California Science Center.

Theme Building

The distinctive white googie "Theme Building", designed by Pereira & Luckman architect Paul Williams and constructed in 1961 by Robert E. McKee Construction Co., resembles a flying saucer that has landed on its four legs. A restaurant with a sweeping view of the airport is suspended beneath two arches that form the legs. The Los Angeles City Council designated the building a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1992. A $4 million renovation, with retro-futuristic interior and electric lighting designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, was completed before the "Encounter Restaurant" opened there in 1997. Visitors are able to take the elevator up to the roof of the "Theme Building", which closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks for security reasons and reopened to the public on weekends beginning on July 10, 2010. Additionally, a memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attacks is located on the grounds, as three of the four hijacked planes were originally destined for LAX.

Overview

LAX has nine passenger terminals arranged in the shape of the letter U or a horseshoe. The terminals are served by a shuttle bus. The Tom Bradley International Terminal and Terminals 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all connected airside via an overground passage between Terminal 4 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal, an underground tunnel between Terminals 4, 5 and 6 and above-ground walkways between Terminals 6, 7, and 8. An additional airside shuttle bus operates among Terminals 4, 6, and the American Eagle remote terminal. There are no physical airside connections between any of the other terminals.

In addition to these terminals, there are 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m²) of cargo facilities at LAX, and a heliport operated by Bravo Aviation. Qantas has a maintenance facility at LAX, even though it is not a hub.

Terminal Arrangements

Effective May 2017, Delta Air Lines will be moving to Terminals 2 and 3 while vacating Terminals 5 and 6.

Airlines and destinations

LAX connects to 87 domestic and 69 international destinations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. American Airlines/American Eagle operate the most departures from the airport, followed by United Airlines/United Express and Southwest Airlines. American operates the largest network of routes out of LAX serving more than 70 destinations, followed closely by Delta (58) and United (57).

Notes:

Traffic and statistics

LAX handles more "origin and destination" (not connecting) passengers than any other airport in the world.

The airport handled 28,861,477 enplanements, the total number of passengers boarding an aircraft, in 2008. This makes LAX the third busiest airport in the United States in terms of enplanements.

It is the world's fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and fifteenth-busiest by cargo traffic, serving over 70.6 million passengers and 2 million tons of freight and mail in 2014. It is the busiest airport in the state of California, and the second-busiest airport by passenger boardings in the United States, based on final 2013 statistics.

In terms of international passengers, as of 2012, LAX is the third busiest in the United States. (behind JFK in New York City and MIA in Miami) and, as of 2006, 26th worldwide.

The number of aircraft operations (landings and takeoffs) has steadily increased to 636,706 in 2014, up from 614,917 in 2013, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The Airports Council International places LAX at third most aircraft movements in the world, as of 2013.

Transportation between terminals

Shuttles operate to and from the terminals, providing frequent service for connecting passengers. However, connecting passengers who use these shuttles must leave and then later reenter security. Underground tunnels connect between terminals 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, and an above-ground connector between TBIT and terminal 4 opened in February 2016.

Freeways and roads

LAX's terminals are immediately west of the interchange between Century Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard (State Route 1). The 405 Freeway can be reached to the east via Century Boulevard, and the 105 Freeway can be reached to the south via Sepulveda Boulevard.

Bus

The closest bus stops to the terminals are the pair of opposites on Sepulveda Boulevard and Century Boulevard, served by Metro 117, Torrance 8, Metro 232, Commuter Express 574 and Metro 40 to Los Angeles Union Station (owl service only).

In addition, out of a number of bus systems, many routes (local, rapid and express) of the LACMTA Metro 232 to Long Beach, Line 8 of Torrance Transit, Line 109 of Beach Cities Transit, the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus system's Line 3 and Rapid 3 via Lincoln Boulevard to Santa Monica and the Culver CityBus's Line 6 and Rapid 6 via Sepulveda Blvd to Culver City and UCLA, LADOT Commuter Express 438 to Downtown LA (Monday-Friday Rush hours AM), all make stops at the LAX Transit Center in Parking Lot C. on 96th St., where shuttle bus "C" offers free connections to and from every LAX terminal, and at the Green Line, where shuttle bus "G" connects to and from the terminals.

The Taiwanese airline China Airlines operates a bus service from LAX to Monterey Park and Rowland Heights. This service is only available for China Airlines customers.

FlyAway Bus

The FlyAway Bus is a nonstop motorcoach/shuttle service run by the LAWA, which provides scheduled service between LAX and Downtown Los Angeles (Union Station), the San Fernando Valley (Van Nuys), West Los Angeles (Westwood), Hollywood, Long Beach, California, and Santa Monica was discontinued in 2015.. The Irvine FlyAway was discontinued on August 31, 2012. The shuttle service stops at every LAX terminal. The service hours vary based on the line. All lines use the regional system of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to expedite their trips. The Los Angeles Union Station service and a late-night branch of Metro Local route 40 are the only direct transport links between the airport and Downtown Los Angeles.

Metro Rail

Shuttle bus "G" offers a free connection to and from the Aviation/LAX station on the Los Angeles Metro Rail Green Line. The line was originally intended to connect directly to the airport terminals, but budgetary restraints and opposition from local taxi and parking lot owners impeded its progress and won.

Airport Metro Connector

In June 2014, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a $200 million Metro Rail infill station called Aviation/96th Street on the under construction Crenshaw/LAX Line to connect to an automated people mover (APM) system called the Airport Metro Connector, connecting terminals 1–8 to the light rail systems. The people mover will have six stations: three serving the central terminal area, one serving a ground transportation hub, one serving the infill light rail station, and one serving a rental car hub, decreasing the need for shuttle bus services. Construction, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, is planned to start in early 2017 and to be completed by early 2024. Currently, shuttle bus "G" runs every 10–15 minutes (synched with the train schedule) from 5 am – 1:30 am.

Taxis and private shuttles

Taxicab services are operated by nine city-authorized taxi companies and regulated by Authorized Taxicab Supervision Inc. (ATS). ATS maintains a taxicab holding lot under the 96th Street Bridge where, at peak periods, hundreds of cabs queue up to wait their turn to pull into the central terminal area to pick up passengers. A number of private shuttle companies also offer limousine and bus services to LAX Airport.

Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles

The airport also functions as a joint civil-military facility, providing a base for the United States Coast Guard and its Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles facility, operating four HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, which covers Coast Guard operations in various Southern California locations, including Catalina Island. Missions include search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement, aids to navigation support (such as operating lighthouses) and various military operations. In addition, Coast Guard helicopters assigned to the air station deploy to Coast Guard cutters.

The Coast Guard is planning to close Coast Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles and move its aircraft and personnel to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, part of Naval Base Ventura County in Oxnard, California, when the lease on the existing facility ends in 2016.

Flight Path Learning Center & Museum

The Flight Path Learning Center is a museum located at 6661 Imperial Highway and was formerly known as the "West Imperial Terminal". This building used to house some charter flights (Condor Airlines) and regular scheduled flights by MGM Grand Air. It sat empty for 10 years until it was re-opened as a learning center for LAX.

The center contains information on the history of aviation, several pictures of the airport, as well as aircraft scale models, flight attendant uniforms, and general airline memorabilia such as playing cards, china, magazines, signs, even a TWA gate information sign. The museum also offers school tours and a guest speaker program.

The museum's library contains an extensive collection of rare items such as aircraft manufacturer company newsletters/magazines, technical manuals for both military and civilian aircraft, industry magazines dating back to World War II and before, historic photographs and other invaluable references on aircraft operation and manufacturing.

The museum has on display "The Spirit of Seventy-Six," which is a DC-3 (DC-3-262, Serial No. 3269). After being in commercial airline service, the plane served as a corporate aircraft for Union Oil Company for 32 years. The plane was built in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Santa Monica in January 1941, which was a major producer of both commercial and military aircraft.

The museum claims to be "the only aviation museum and research center situated at a major airport and the only facility with a primary emphasis on contributions of civil aviation to the history and development of Southern California". There are other museums at major airports, however, including the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum adjacent to Washington Dulles Airport, the Royal Thai Air Force Museum at Don Muang Airport, the Suomen ilmailumuseo (Finnish Aviation Museum) at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Dallas Love Field, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium at Tulsa International Airport and others.

Other facilities

The airport has the administrative offices of Los Angeles World Airports.

Continental Airlines once had its corporate headquarters on the airport property. At a 1962 press conference in the office of Mayor of Los Angeles Sam Yorty, Continental Airlines announced that it planned to move its headquarters to Los Angeles in July 1963. In 1963 Continental Airlines headquarters moved to a two-story, $2.3 million building on the grounds of the airport. The July 2009 Continental Magazine issue stated that the move "underlined Continental Airlines western and Pacific orientation". On July 1, 1983 the airline's headquarters were relocated to the America Tower in the Neartown area of Houston.

In addition to Continental Airlines, Western Airlines and Flying Tiger Line also had their headquarters at LAX.

Accidents and incidents

During its history there have been numerous incidents, but only the most notable are summarized below:

1930s

1940s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

Planned modernization

LAWA currently has several plans to modernize LAX. These include terminal and runway improvements, which will enhance the passenger experience, reduce overcrowding, and provide airport access to the latest class of very large passenger aircraft.

These improvements include:

LAWA is also planning to build and operate an automated people mover. This small train will include three stations in the central terminal area and three outside east of the terminals at a new intermodal transportation facility, connecting passengers between the central terminal area and the Metro Green Line, the future Metro Crenshaw Line, and regional and local bus lines and a consolidated car rental facility.

In popular culture

Numerous films and television shows have been set or filmed partially at LAX, at least partly due to the airport's proximity to Hollywood studios. Film shoots at the Los Angeles airports, including LAX, produced $590 million for the Los Angeles region from 2002 to 2005.