ANNUAL SANTA FLY-IN AT LAX BRINGS EARLY HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES TO LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
(Los Angeles, California – December 9, 2016) Santa Claus flew to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) for a pre-holiday visit by helicopter today to spread holiday cheer to nearly 350 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students from eight local schools. The annual LAX Santa Fly-in festivities were held airside of the LAX Flight Path Learning Center & Museum.
The students were also entertained by the LAX PUPs (Pets Unstressing Passengers), Hawthorne Police Dog “Officer Scottie” and “Gabby” the Talking Car, mascots and cheerleaders from both UCLA and Loyola Marymount University, and Bailey, the Los Angeles Kings mascot. Silly Sally the clown and the LAX K-9 officers also entertained the students.
After landing on the airfield Santa walked down a red carpet to read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ to the students, and was heard saying “Ho-Ho-Ho, as he was whisked away waving goodbye on an LAX Fire truck. The Community Relations Santa’s helpers provided the students with parting gifts including aviation activity coloring books and toys donated by Mattel, Inc.
“The LAX Community Relations Division hosts this annual holiday event as an opportunity to expose students to the world of aviation at a young age, while providing a fun and entertaining morning at the airport. By bringing students to LAX for this enjoyable experience we hope to spark their imaginations to travel or work in aviation in the future,” said Trevor Daley, Los Angeles World Airports Deputy Executive Director of External Affairs.
LAX has hosted the Santa Fly-in event for students in nearby communities since 2004. This year, students came from elementary schools in the Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lennox, Los Angeles Unified, Pacific Palisades, Westchester and Wiseburn School Districts. The participating schools included Oak Street, Playa Del Rey, Westport Heights, Corpus Christi, Dolores Huerta, Zela Davis, Juan de Anza and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School.
For more information on the event please contact Stephanie Sampson, event coordinator, at LAX Community Relations at (310) 809-9458. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook/LAXCommunityRelations , and on Instagram at @LAXCommunityRelations for information on LAX community involvement efforts.
About LAX Community Relations Division
LAX Community Relations Division develops and implements ongoing community outreach programs designed to optimize effective two-way communications with various publics. A key focus of the division is establishing programs and services that address the needs and concerns of surrounding airport communities through opportunities such as youth programs, aviation education, speakers’ bureau, and community and civic participation. In addition, the division handles liaison activities with community-based organizations and oversees public agency-private industry partnerships.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the seventh busiest airport in the world and third in the United States. LAX served more than 74.9 million passengers in 2015. LAX offers 742 daily nonstop flights to 101 cities in the U.S. and 1,273 weekly nonstop flights to 76 cities in 41 countries on 64 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.1 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion. LAX handled 655,564 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2015.
An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,610 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.
LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.
