LAX DEDICATES NEW $13.9-MILLION AIRPORT RESPONSE COORDINATION CENTER TO IMPROVE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY, CRISIS MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES

(Los Angeles, California – January 24, 2011)  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa was joined by airport officials today to dedicate a new Airport Response Coordination Center (ARCC) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  The $13.9-million  facility greatly enhances LAX’s operational efficiency and crisis management capabilities by centralizing communications and streamlining management of all the airport’s many operations, while improving service to passengers, airlines, concessionaires, tenant service providers, governmental agencies and the surrounding community.

             "The new state-of-the-art facility will improve day-to-day operations and help LAX better respond to any type of incident or emergency," said Mayor Villaraigosa. "From serving as a nerve center in an emergency situation to quickly getting planes to their gates in a rainstorm, this new facility will improve efficiency and keep travelers moving safely and quickly every day of the year.”

            Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners President Michael Lawson said, “The Airport Response Coordination Center is one more major step towards a coordination and emergency response goal that demands constant renewal and energy.  This new facility allows us to bring together both people and technology within a single space that’s governed by a protocol that vastly increases our situational awareness and, equally important, our ability to respond quickly and effectively.”   

            The Airport Response Coordination Center provides day-to-day, round-the-clock operational support, facility management, flight information, security coordination and ensures compliance with all federal aviation regulations.  The ARCC is regularly staffed with personnel from LAX’s Airside (airfield) and Landside (terminal) operations, Los Angeles Airport Police and Construction & Maintenance Services divisions, as well as from governmental agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration.  The ARCC staff is expected to expand as other airport monitoring activities are merged into the ARCC.

            A separate section of the ARCC, called the Incident Management Center, would be activated during a major incident or airport emergency -- calling in additional personnel to specifically respond to the event, from initial onset, to securing the incident, and through recovery of impacted operations until the airport fully resumes normal operations and the incident officially “closed.” 

            The IMC functions as the “nerve center” for dealing with a critical event, receiving information from emergency responders at the on-scene Incident Command Post and from other parts of the airport, and allocating critical resources as required in a timely and efficient manner.  By improving coordination during a critical incident, airport officials expect to reduce response time to incidents that could impact the traveling public.

            During a critical incident, the regularly scheduled ARCC staff would continue to manage other airport activities that might be impacted slightly or not at all by the incident, including airport roadways, terminals, parking facilities, ground transportation, fueling operations, runways and taxiways, cargo and catering facilities, office buildings, etc. 

            The airport’s established AiRadio 530 AM broadcasting facility also is located inside the ARCC.  The LAX AiRadio station is the only airport information station in the U.S. to be granted a waiver by the Federal Communications Commission of its own long-standing rules to allow LAX AiRadio to increase transmission power to 100 watts from the normal maximum of 10 watts.  The waiver was based on security reasons and the need to immediately convey current airport conditions directly to thousands of passengers and motorists following a critical incident, before they reach LAX and become enmeshed in traffic congestion and flight delays or cancellations.  The LAX AiRadio signal now covers most of the Los Angeles area as an important part of the airport’s security plan.

            The dual-operational facility complies with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Incident Management System (FEMA NIMS).  This management system is designed to cover the prevention, preparation, response and recovery from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies.  By implementing NIMS, all levels of government can work efficiently and effectively together by eliminating redundancy and confusion during an emergency response. 

            LAX has activated an airport emergency operations center during several past events, but this is the first time that a centralized response organization comprised of all essential airport management personnel is co-located in one dedicated, specialized facility.  The LAX Airport Response Coordination Center also will serve as a crucial link to the City of Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center for comprehensive response, resource allocation and communication with city leaders.

            Overall project cost of over $13.9 million includes $8.4 million (65 percent) allocated to installing state-of-the-art technology, equipment and software.  The project was funded from the airport’s general operating revenues and $970,000 from a California Emergency Management Agency Urban Area Security Initiative grant.  No monies were allocated from the City’s general fund.

Construction

            The 15-month project, which began September 2009, includes six months between June and December 2010 for actual construction of the facility.  The new LAX Airport Response Coordination Center was designed by Gensler Architects and built by Technion Contractors, Inc., both from Southern California.  Local offices of Systems Development Integration, LLC; General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc.; and Motorola Solutions, Inc., installed and integrated the new state-of-the-art technology, equipment and software.  Los Angeles World Airports Development Group engineers and Information Management & Technology Group systems analysts managed the project.

            Airport officials report nearly 200 jobs at prevailing wages were created during this project, including architects, engineers, inspectors, construction workers, building material fabricators, transport drivers, systems specialists and administrative support personnel. 

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