LOS ANGELES AIRPORT PROVIDES UPDATE ON CURRENT FLIGHT OPERATIONS
6:00 a.m. PST -- Monday, October 27, 2003

At 6::00 am PST on Monday, October 27, 2003, officials at Los Angeles World Airports advise travelers to check with their airlines before going to the airport for flights to and from Los Angeles International (LAX) and Ontario International Airports (ONT). A number of flights to and from Southland airports may experience delays or cancellations.

Air traffic control operations are hampered because of the temporary closure of the FAA's Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility on the Marine Corps' Miramar Air Station near San Diego.

Controllers from the FAA's Miramar facility were dispatched yesterday to five airports in Southern California including LAX and ONT in an effort to increase operational capabilities that were reduced on Sunday when a wildfire forced the evacuation of the facility. It is unknown when the FAA's Miramar facility will resume normal operations.

More than 200 flights to and from LAX were cancelled on Sunday among about 1,700 scheduled.

Airlines are expected to selectively cancel flights today and combine flights where possible, in an effort to reduce the load on the air traffic control system and reduce delays on flights that they do operate.

At 6:00 am PST, a check of major airlines at LAX show they have cancelled about 40 departures through 2:00 pm today.