"City Council approves LAX modernization plan"

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

City Council approves LA airport modernization plan
The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES - A massive overhaul plan that could cost up to $11 billion to
make the world's fifth-busiest airport safer and more modern was approved
Wednesday by the City Council.

Council members voted 12-3 for the Los Angeles International Airport
expansion, which has already cost $130 million to develop and would be
implemented in two stages.

In the first phase, which would cost $3 billion, a runway would be moved and
the airport would add more gates to the international terminal. The airport
would also build a consolidated rental car center, an elevated people mover,
transit hub, and an employee parking lot.

Because of a compromise reached between Mayor James Hahn and City
Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski and others, the more expensive and
controversial elements of the overhaul would begin only after further study.
That phase, to cost about $8 billion, includes construction of a central
passenger check-in facility and demolition of three terminals.

Altogether, the remodeling would be the largest in the airport's 75-year
history.

The council must vote again in December because the little-known county
Airport Land Use Commission ruled that the proposal violated the airport
land use plan. Federal officials, including the Federal Aviation
Administration, also must approve the plan before any construction could
begin.

Opposing the plan were two City Council members who are running for mayor,
Antonio Villaraigosa and Bernard Parks, and one member who backs
Villaraigosa, Jack Weiss.

Weiss said he doesn't believe the second phase would make the airport safer
as intended, and would invite legal challenges.

Airlines had praised the so-called "consensus plan," saying it was needed to
accommodate a larger plane, the 555-seat Airbus A380, which is expected to
begin landing in Los Angeles in two years.

"We want to continue our growth in Los Angeles," Quantas Airways general
manager Rob Sharp told the council at a Tuesday hearing. "We want to be the
first carrier to bring in the A380. To do this we need this consensus plan.
Any substantial delays could mean our operations move to other cities."

After the vote, El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon said he was preparing a lawsuit
challenging the plan. Gordon and others in the city south of LAX believe the
expansion would increase noise and traffic.

Opponents said they had collected 17,000 signatures from nearby residents
who believe the overhaul is a bad idea. They want to limit the growing
number of annual passengers at LAX and spread future growth in travelers and
cargo to other airports in the region.


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