FLYAWAY BUS SERVICE TO CEASE WESTWOOD OPERATIONS SUNDAY, JUNE 30

(Los Angeles, CA) Due to a significant decline in ridership, the FlyAway® nonstop bus service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Westwood will end service on Sunday, June 30. The final trip from LAX to Westwood will take place at 8 p.m.

The decision to end the Westwood FlyAway route was made after a thorough review of the route’s ridership since inception, and focus group panels of Westwood residents and UCLA students to determine if there were opportunities to improve ridership. Currently, the Westwood line averages only three passengers per trip. Efforts to raise ridership over the past year have included changing trip frequency, promoting the route on social media and relocating the stop location to Galey Avenue and Strathmore Place, closer to student housing. None of these efforts have reversed the declining ridership.

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) plans to redirect funding from the Westwood FlyAway to other FlyAway routes, which include Hollywood, Long Beach, Union Station, and Van Nuys. Airport officials will also continue partnering with UCLA Transportation to explore other transportation options for the UCLA and Westwood communities.

Between April 2018 and March 2019, LAX's FlyAway served nearly 1.98 million passengers. The Van Nuys route served more than 1.1 million passengers, and the Union Station FlyAway route served more than 576,000. Both the Hollywood and Long Beach routes have had increased ridership, with volumes increasing by 7 and 23 percent year-over-year, respectively. Information on schedules and fares is available at www.LAXFlyAway.org.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

LAX, the fourth-busiest airport in the world and second busiest in the United States, was named a top-10 U.S. airport by SKYTRAX. LAX served more than 87.5 million passengers in 2018 and offers an average of 700 daily nonstop flights to 109 cities in the U.S. and 1,281 weekly nonstop flights to 93 markets in 47 countries on 69 commercial airlines. LAX ranks 10th in the world in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.4 million tons of air cargo. LAX handled 707,883 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2018.  

LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California, with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion, according to an economic study based on 2014 operations. 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 was honored as having the “Best Overall Customer Service Program” by Airports Council International-North America; named the “Best Airport for Breastfeeding Moms” by Mamava; selected for the Top 10 “Best of the U.S.’s Big Airports” (Wall Street Journal) and “Most Pet-Friendly Airports in the U.S. (Mental Floss); named the second-most improved airport in the U.S. by JD Power; received an “Innovation Award” from the L.A. Better Business Challenge for its Central Utility Plant; and named  a “Business Leader in Air Quality” by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

LAX is also the second-most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram, according to wego.com. 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.