"Airlines Come Up With LAX Modernization Plan"

Friday, August 22, 2003

Airlines Come Up With LAX Modernization Plan
The Associated Press


TORRANCE, Calif. - A group of airlines has come up with its own
modernization plan for Los Angeles International Airport and it costs a
third of Mayor James K. Hahn's $9 billion-plus proposal and could be
finished in half the time.

Airlines have been quietly lobbying Los Angeles City Council members to
oppose certain elements of Hahn's plan, the Daily Breeze reported Friday.

The airline plan eliminates some of the most expensive and controversial
projects in Hahn's plan, including a ground transportation center 1 1/2
miles east of the airfield and a train that would ferry passengers to the
terminals, said Kelley Brown, executive director of the L.A. Airline Airport
Affairs Committee.

The committee includes about 80 airlines at Los Angeles International
Airport.

Many carriers claim the offsite Manchester Square center would be
inconvenient for travelers and there is doubt security would be improved.

"Conceptually, the airlines have a real concern about whether that could
work," Brown said.

The airline plan, which Brown said would cost $2 billion to $3 billion, does
not reject Hahn's proposal entirely. It retains southside airfield
improvements, a consolidated on-airport rental car facility and a modernized
Tom Bradley International Terminal, Brown said.


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