LAX GEARS UP FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND TRAVEL
Airport Kicks Off Summer Travel Season With New Passenger-Friendly Services
(Los Angeles, California -- May 23, 2002) Upwards of three-quarters of a million passengers are expected to move through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) over the Memorial Day weekend, airport officials said today. In preparation for both the weekend and impending summer rush, LAX has instituted a series of new user-friendly services.
Between Friday and Monday, an estimated 700,000 passengers will depart and arrive at LAX, marking the start of the summer travel season, compared with about 825,000 during the same holiday period in 2001. This weekend will be the busiest travel period at LAX since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which paralyzed the nation's air transportation system and prompted a slowdown in air travel.
Airport officials forecast that LAX will serve approximately 17.4 million passengers from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, a decrease of approximately 15 percent from the record 20.5 million passengers during the same period last year. The most popular domestic travel destinations from LAX this summer will be San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland, Chicago Midway/Chicago O'Hare, Las Vegas, New York Kennedy/Newark and Phoenix. Internationally, the top five destinations will be Tokyo, London, Taipei, Auckland and Mexico City.
Airport officials said LAX terminals will actually be more crowded this summer compared with last year despite lower passenger traffic.
"Gate areas, retail shops and restaurants will continue to be more crowded than they were before 9-11, as will public areas stretching from curbside baggage check-in and ticket counter areas to passenger screening points, since 'meeters and greeters' are no longer allowed beyond security check points," said Paul H. Green, chief operating officer of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the Los Angeles City department that owns and operates LAX and three other Southern California airports. "In addition, ticketed passengers are spending more time than ever in the terminals since they are arriving at the airport well in advance of their scheduled departure times due to new federal security requirements."
Many who travel this summer will be taking advantage of lower leisure fares and returning to the airways for the first time since Sept. 11, which magnifies the need for enhanced passenger services at LAX, the largest origination and destination airport in the world. The new services for LAX passengers and visitors planned for the summer travel season include:
- LAX Ambassadors who serve as the airport's liaisons to travelers, assisting passengers with last-minute questions, facilitating their movement within and between the terminals, and working to minimize unnecessary delays. Under a four-month pilot program, the LAX Ambassadors staff departure levels at all of the terminals except the Tom Bradley International Terminal between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. seven days a week. Among their duties, they help direct travelers to appropriate lines, inform them of current security procedures, check flight status and direct passengers to ground transportation services. They are identifiable by their white polo shirts, khaki pants, navy blue windbreakers, white visors and LAX Ambassador badges. Launched May 1, the LAX Ambassadors have already assisted more than 27,000 passengers.
- Additional passenger screening points have been installed by the federal Transportation Security Administration to help facilitate the flow of ticketed passengers while maintaining new federal security requirements.
- New self-service, electronic check-in computer kiosks have been installed by major U.S. airlines to enable domestic passengers to obtain boarding passes and check luggage without waiting in ticket counter lines. In addition to announcing the new user-friendly services initiatives, airport officials encourage passengers to follow some of these tips that will ease their way through LAX:
- Call the airline to confirm flight before arriving at the airport and allow sufficient time for check-in and passenger screening.
- Take alternative transportation to the airport such as shared ride vans, taxis, the Van Nuys FlyAway bus, the Metro Rail Green Line and other public transportation. For those driving to the airport, there is ample parking in all of the Central Terminal Area parking facilities.
- Bring government-issued photo identification that will be needed to obtain tickets and boarding passes. Also, place identification on the outside and inside of all checked and carry-on baggage.
- Watch your bags at all times and remember to retrieve personal belongings -- such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, jewelry, keys and wallets -- from passenger screening checkpoints.
- Pack in checked luggage any item that may be used to harm a person. This includes home and garden tools, cooking utensils, fishing and hunting equipment, and toys that look like weapons. Containers of hazardous materials and aerosol sprays that may burst in flight are prohibited in checked luggage.
- Travel light. Passengers are limited to one carry-on baggage and one personal item, such as a purse, briefcase or diaper bag.
