tagged w/ Los Angeles International Airport
-
June 10, 2011
Vegan Restaurant Landing Soon at LAX Airport
By Nathan Runkle
Real-Food-Daily.jpg
Pending City Hall approval, one of the Los Angeles area's most popular vegan and 100% organic restaurants, Real Food Daily, will open its third location in Terminal 4 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the world's busiest airports.
From hearty sandwiches and fresh salads to decadent baked goods, this restaurant will be a welcome addition for travelers looking for healthy and humane fare.
Can't jetset to LAX to celebrate the opening of the next Real Food Daily? Get your veg-food fix at VegGuide.org, an international listing of vegan-friendly restaurants and grocers.June 10, 2011
Vegan Restaurant Landing Soon at LAX Airport
By Nathan Runkle... more
-
-
25 things about LAX
'Vapor wake'-sniffing dogs, the best vantage points for plane spotting, firetruck salutes — here are 25 things you might not have known about the airport.
Photo: LAX entrance
Los Angeles International Airport is a whiz-through place, but an LAX whiz knows where to look. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
By Chris Erskine Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 12, 2011
Travelers usually try to get in and get out of Los Angeles International Airport as quickly as possible. Who wouldn't? But in their haste, here are 25 things they might have missed:
Full-body scanners were deployed late last year after it was revealed that contraband items were slipping past Transportation Security Administration screeners. LAX has 22 of the big machines, each monitored by a worker in a separate room so the revealing images remain out of view.
If a luggage scanner alarm goes off, a yellow bar on the monitor directs a TSA worker to the area in the luggage where the suspicious material is. Chocolate and cheese commonly trigger the machines, because the two foods have the same density as explosives.
Vehicle inspection checkpoints along the airport roadway open at random times according to a computer program.
Airport police recently added K9dogs that can detect what authorities call "vapor wake," the faint whiff of chemical explosive in a bag that passed by minutes before. The dogs can then follow that scent to a suspect.
LAX police are sworn peace officers and can make arrests anywhere in California. Trainees spend six months at the LAPD academy, then face 23 weeks of field training. They also have their own shooting range at the airport.
There are always 14 firefighters on duty at LAX — never more, never less.
The four oversized fire rigs serving LAX are fitted with a Snozzle, a piece of equipment that can pierce a fuselage and pump in fire-suppressing foam.
When presidents arrive, they deplane at the West Gate, usually used for overflow flights and accessible only by car and bus.
For public health reasons, all garbage removed from international flights is incinerated.
Luggage hygiene is important too. Old tags and bar-code stickers confuse the laser readers that sort the bags along the conveyor system that takes them to the proper location for loading.
LAX is about the size of eight midmarket airports combined. By itself, Terminal 1 is about as big as Long Beach Airport. Including part-timers and contractors, 45,000 people work at LAX.
The airport is set up like two airfields: the south and the north, with two side-by-side runways on each. Only two taxiways connect the north and south, but a third is about to open.
Decades ago, engineers attempted to tunnel Lincoln Boulevard beneath the airport. The four- to six-lane project was abandoned beneath the north runways. The tunnel is still there and must be inspected periodically for structural integrity.
The Tom Bradley International Terminal expansion is one of L.A. County's biggest construction sites. Crawling with bulldozers and construction workers, the giant dig resembles an ant farm. Its target opening: Dec. 12, 2012 — 12/12/12.
The best hangout during long stopovers is the food court in the Bradley terminal, which you can access without going through a TSA checkpoint. It has the most food choices, nicest views and most comfortable seating.
The best place to escape with your laptop: the reLAX lounge in the Bradley terminal, accessible before passing through security. Not only do you get an hour of Wi-Fi for your $15, but you also get a spacious place to unwind. It's also a great perch for watching that ant farm.
One of the best panoramic views in town is from a window seat at Encounter Restaurant, in the UFO-shaped Theme Building. The ahi tuna tartare, with a soy glaze, might be the tastiest in town ($18).
El Segundo's Imperial Hill area (also known as Clutter's Park) is a plane spotter's paradise. Another good viewing location is north of the airport, next to the In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard.
For photographers specializing in aircraft, LAX is said to have one of the best, most varied fleets.
A biologist helps control birds on the runways. Gulls are less of an issue than smaller, sparrow-type birds. When the birds become a danger, guns with blanks are used to drive them away. Sometimes traps are used to relocate them.
On July 4, pilots steepen their takeoffs and descents to avoid sporadic gunfire from holiday celebrants.
Terminal traffic is crushing at 7 p.m. because it's a busy time for both arriving and departing domestic and international passengers. Morning, when domestic traffic is high, is usually a quiet time in the Bradley terminal. Likewise, when the Bradley is busy near midnight, domestic traffic has all but stopped.
The last commercial crash at LAX was two decades ago. On Feb. 1, 1991, a USAir flight landed atop an out-of-position SkyWest flight getting ready to take off, killing 34. From the tower transcript: "OK, we just had a 737 land and blow up, he went up in flame, he's off the runway right now, two four left is closed."
Despite the addition of self-help kiosks, elite service desks, etc., the curbside Skycap is still your best, hassle-free option for check-in and baggage drop-off. You avoid the confusing and cramped terminals, making it well worth the modest tip.
LAX firetrucks honor important events — major new flight routes, pilot retirements — with streaming water salutes reminiscent of what fireboats do in harbors.
.25 things about LAX
'Vapor wake'-sniffing dogs, the best vantage points... more
-
-
One-Way Flight From LAX To San Diego Costs Whopping $577
January 15, 2011 9:00 AM
(credit: AP)
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Need to get to San Diego fast? That’ll cost just $577, please.
A survey by the San Diego Union-Tribune found that a one-way ticket for a 40-minute flight from LAX to San Diego’s Lindbergh Field costs a minimum of $577.
By comparison, a flight to London can be bought for as little as $316.
One airline told the newspaper that most of the passengers flying on the route are connecting at LAX to another city and do not pay the full fare.
As for cheaper ways to get between the two cities, the Amtrak Surfliner charges $31 for service between the two Union Stations, and the LAX Fly-Away bus connects with nonstop service to LAX for $7.
But if people really want to fly to San Diego, the cheapest option is a $107 ticket with a changeover in Phoenix.One-Way Flight From LAX To San Diego Costs Whopping $577
January 15, 2011 9:00 AM... more
-
-
Andrea Williams of West Los Angeles doesn't consider herself to be an exhibitionist.
So Williams isn't thrilled with the notion of stepping into a machine that scans an intimate image of her body - even if it's for the sake of security at Los Angeles International Airport.
"I don't care if it's just one or two people looking at the picture," said Williams, 38, as she waited to board a flight to San Francisco.
"That's my body," she said. "I don't want anyone looking at me."
Williams and other travelers catching a flight out of LAX now have a greater chance of being scanned by full-body imaging machines during a primary security check.
Or, they could opt out and undergo a pat-down search by a Transportation Security Administration officer.
About two dozen scanning units will be spread across all nine terminals at LAX by the end of the year, according to a program announced Tuesday afternoon by federal and city officials.
The move is part of the Department of Homeland Security's plan to deliver 450 body scanning devices to 11 airports nationwide by the end of this year, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"Ultimately, I know that if something happens at this airport, the first person that you're going to ask about what happened is me," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told reporters gathered for a news conference held inside Terminal 6.
"I feel very, very strongly and I've said very clearly on a number of occasions that Los Angeles will take every aggressive effort to ensure the safety of the passengers that enter this airport," he said. "We're going to use every technology we can and every tool in the toolbox to do that."
Passengers undergoing primary security screening at any terminal inside LAX may be directed to lines equipped with the scanners, known as backscatter machines.
The units, manufactured by Torrance-based Rapiscan Systems Inc., generate low-level X-rays that bounce off the traveler's body for about 10 seconds, creating a revealing image that resembles a chalk outline.
The TSA spent two years testing the machines to ensure the privacy of passengers. Faces are obscured in the pictures, while allowing enough clarity to detect hidden weapons or explosives.
The images are viewed by security screeners sitting in a remote, enclosed area away from the machines and airline passengers. The portraits are then deleted and cannot be saved or printed, TSA officials said.
Some critics have raised health concerns, but TSA officials said that the amount of radiation emitted from the machines is the equivalent of two minutes of flight aboard a jetliner.
"While there is no single piece of technology that could be considered a silver bullet, imaging technology is part of this integral effort," said Lee Kair, the TSA's assistant administrator of security operations.
Some airline passengers said they will likely opt for a pat-down, while others said they feel safer boarding a plane now that more scanners will be used as a primary security screening tool at LAX.
"I don't mind if someone sees what I've got," 45-year-old Alberto Avendano of Long Beach said with a shrug as he waited for a flight to Las Vegas.
"It's not like everyone in the airport is going to see me," he said. "And it's better than getting blown up by a terrorist."Andrea Williams of West Los Angeles doesn't consider herself to be an... more
-
-
Monday, February 22, 2010
Carlos Granda
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A history-making project is getting started at LAX on Monday. The Tom Bradley International Terminal is going to be transformed, and the project is expected to create thousands of jobs.
It's being called the largest public works project ever in Los Angeles, and it's the first big project at LAX since the 1984 Olympics. The reason it took so long was a lot of people had been fighting changes at the airport, worried it would bring more flights and congestion to the area.
For that very reason, officially, the project is called airport modernization, not expansion. The purpose of the project is to accommodate the newer and bigger jets that are on the way.
"This is the gateway, the capital of the Pacific Rim, the gateway to the East and the South, and here we should have a gateway that really welcomes people," said L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
It's called Bradley West, and there will be nine new gates for the new generation jets, such as the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747-800.
The A380 has an upper and lower deck, and there will be new dual passenger loading-unloading bridges to get people on and off quicker. Because there will so many passengers on the new planes, there will also be new concourses and new tarmac areas to accommodate the plane.
It's a $1.26 billion project, the largest in the city's history, and it's expected to create 4,000 construction-related jobs.
"Nearly 40 percent of the workers will be residents of the city of Los Angeles and other communities near LAX, billions of dollars in economic impact from international air travelers and a travel experience worthy of a world-class city," Villaraigosa said.
Money for the project comes from LAX's operating revenues, airline fees and passenger facility charges, so flying from LAX may get more expensive.
"LAX will no longer be the cheapest takeoff and landing airport in America. It will be modernized, those costs will be passed on, and all of a sudden, Ontario will look good," said L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. Rosendahl is against airport expansion.
No money from the city's general fund will be used to pay for the project, which is expected to be completed by 2013.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7290617&cmp=emc-kabc-Eyewitness_News,_Southern_Californias_News_Leader-022210-top2-7290617Monday, February 22, 2010
Carlos Granda
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A history-making... more
-
