News
Multi-million dollar expansion adds to LAX confusion

An ongoing, multibillion-dollar renovation at the nation's
third-busiest airport that has mostly been behind the scenes will soon
start affecting passengers in ways large and small.

LAX officials began warning the public about the coming
inconveniences that will stretch over the next few years and affect
traffic around the terminals and passenger movements inside them.

"Now you're going to start to
feel the pain," said Mary Grady, managing director of media and public
relations at Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that runs LAX.
"Ultimately, it's work that has to be done to transform this airport."

The last major overhaul of the massive facility came as the city geared up to host the 1984 Olympics.

This one comes because LAX is showing its age.
To wit: The interior look of one of its soon-to-be-renovated terminals
was cast for scenes from "Mad Men," the cable drama set in the 1960s.

The aging airport is scheduled to
get newly surfaced roads, upgraded restaurants with Los Angeles themes,
and some terminal makeovers that will infuse more sunlight into
otherwise cave-like interiors. Also in the plans are new bathrooms and,
that essential for travellers, more outlets and USB ports for charging
electronic devices.

Part of the point is to make LAX more than just a
place travellers go to get somewhere else. It's reminiscent of bygone
days at LAX, where an architecturally striking restaurant at the centre
of the airport once was pitched as a dining destination for people who
had no plans to fly.

As the airport works to transform itself, the
primary goal must be convenience, said Michael Boyd, CEO of the aviation
research and forecasting firm Boyd Group International.

"The best experience in an airport," Boyd said, "is the one you don't remember."