LAX officials raked over coals at L.A. Council committee meeting

Report from Denny Schneider, President of ARSAC from today's meeting of the L.A. City Council's Commerce, Trade and Tourism Committee. ARSAC, the Alliance for a Regional Solution for Airport Congestion, is one of four groups that sued over the LAX Master Plan.


Agenda item three was for LAWA to present the status of LAX improvement projects and the redesign efforts. Both Chairwoman Councilmember Janice Hahn and our Councilmember BILL ROSENDAHL were both emphatic that LAX improvement must accommodate both immediate and future aircraft operational demands and that LAWA action has been untimely at best. Both ARE WORKING TO STOP THE RUMOR MILL THAT "MODERNIZATION" PLANS MUST INCLUDE EXPANSION. THEY ALSO SAID THAT DESTRUCTION OF NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. The two Council members assailed LAWA over and over for not having moved forward on the "Green Light" projects that were approved in the Settlement Agreement one and a half years ago. The bottom line is that LAWA hasn't gotten very far in fixing LAX.

LAXTEC President, Frank Clark spoke for the international airlines and their concern that there will be inadequate terminals and contact gates for the large A380 aircraft. He suggested that inadequate existing gates is the reason that international carriers are considering other destinations. He insisted that the remote gates that LAX is refurbishing at a cost of over $8M is unsatisfactory. He reiterated the statement that LAX is losing international traffic, but noted that there is satisfaction in the plans to improve Tom Bradley and a new midfield terminal. [ARSAC has questioned the business loss assertion and will be working to refine passenger destination numbers to determine what the current trend really is.]

An LAEDC rep announced that we are losing substantial money daily revenues from aircraft diverted to other cities. They are preparing a white paper for release in late August. Councilman Rosendahl strongly noted that there must be a distinction in any report between "destination" passengers who represent significant tourism dollar infusion and those just passing though LA on their way to another location. The loss of "pass through" passengers does not have very much economic impact.

I personally urge everyone to write to the Mayor to remind him that expansion north is unacceptable, PERIOD. He may be reached by fax at 213 978-0750. Please send a copy of your correspondence to me at DennySchneider@WeLiveFree.com so that I can disseminate your comments to the other elected officials throughout the area. For more information, please see www.REGIONALSOLUTION.org

Virgin America to launch LAX flights on August 8

Tickets are now on sale!

A stylish aircraft cabin awaits you with leather Recaro seats, a seatback inflight entertainment system and even electrical plugs for your laptop and iPod!

LAX-San Francisco, 5 daily flights beginning August 8, 2007

LAX-New York JFK, 2 daily flights beginning August 29, 2007. 3 daily flights on September 16th.

LAX-Washington Dulles, 2 daily flights beginning October 24, 2007.

http://www.virginamerica.com/va/home.do?method=virginAmerica

International airlines flocking to LAX

By 2010, several airlines will add LAX to their networks:

Emirates to Dubai. Flights could be on an Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental. Emirates has not yet ordered this aircraft.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=7739

Jet Airways to India. Flights will be via Jet Airways' European hub in Brussels, Belgium possibly on a Boeing 777-300ER or even a 787 Dreamliner. From Brussels, passengers can fly onward to Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chennai in India.
http://www.jetairways.com/Cultures/en-US/United+States+of+America/About+Us/Press+Room/Press+Releases/Europeanhub.htm

See Jet Airways' remarkable new, almost completely private First Class seat here:
http://www.jetairways.com/msib21/FrontEnd/skins/default/flash/jet_flash/flash.html

Kingfisher Airlines to India. Flights could be one-stop on an Airbus A380 or an Airbus A340-500.

SilverJet to London-Luton Airport. SilverJet, an all-business class airline, has expressed interest in expanding to LAX. Flights would be operated with Boeing 767-200ER's.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=9203

"V Australia" to Sydney and Melbourne. This division of Richard Branson's Virgin Blue (Australia) will operate 6 Boeing 777-300ER's. The name "Virgin" is not used in the title of this Pacific Ocean area airline due to a 1999 agreement with Singapore Airlines when it purchased 49% of Virgin Atlantic. Singapore Airlines has unsuccessfully attempted to gain rights from the Australian government to fly between Australia and the United States.
http://www.virginblue.com.au/about_us/news/index.php?co=vb&artdate=072007#news250707
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=9505

American to add seasonal flights to LAX

American Airlines is adding two seasonal routes to LAX.

Just in time for ski season, American will fly between LAX and Eagle/Vail, CO from December 13, 2007 to March 30, 2008.

LAX to San Jose, Costa Rica begins on November 15, 2007.

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/aboutUs/newServiceRoutes.jsp&anchorEvent=false

China mania: United bids for LAX-Shanghai route; other airlines push for East Coast-China routes

China, China, China is all we hear about in international business these days and the aviation industry is not exempt. On May 23rd, the U.S. and China announced a more liberal aviation bilateral agreement that will allow three new U.S. airlines to fly to China- 1 in 2007 and 2 in 2009.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=8995

U.S. airlines are flooding the U.S. Transportation Department with applications for new routes to China. The only non-stop route including LAX is being proposed by United Airlines. In January 2007, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded United a new route to China with the first ever capital-to-capital flight of Washington-Dulles to Beijing on March 28th.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.htmlstoryID=7562
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=7872
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=8400

United is competing against other airlines that also have set-up online petitions for new China routes.

On July 25, United sent emails to its Los Angeles area Mileage Plus members asking them to sign an electronic petition in support of United's bid for an LAX-Shanghai route. The petition is addressed to U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Mary Peters. United claims in the email that, "Currently, Los Angeles, with a population of more than 18 million, is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S. without nonstop service to China by a U.S. carrier. We believe strongly that this route is necessary for the convenience of our travelers to China." If awarded, United would begin LAX-Shanghai flights on March 25, 2009. Presently, only China Eastern Airlines provides non-stop service on the LAX-Shanghai route. There is one catch to United's application- if LAX is rejected, then United wants a Washington Dulles-Shanghai route.
UA's petition: http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52274,00.html
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/search/autosuggest.jsp?docid=256530&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviationnow.com%2Favnow%2Fnews%2Fchannel_comm_story.jsp%3Fview%3Dstory%26id%3Dnews%2FCHIF07187.xml

American Airlines is pushing for a Chicago-Beijing route. American lost a previous bid of Dallas/Fort Worth to Beijing when it could not get its pilots union to agree to a longer duty time to support the flight. AA modified the route application to DFW-Chicago-Beijing to comply with the pilot's union contract.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=7332
http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2007_07/16_china.jhtml
AA's petition: http://www.flytochinaonaa.com/

Continental Airlines has proposed a New York/Newark-Shanghai route. The flight would start in Cleveland, go to Newark Airport and then onto Shanghai.
http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/company/shanghai.aspx
CO's petition: http://www.continental.com/web/en-US/content/company/petition.aspx

Delta Airlines is requesting permission to fly Atlanta-Shanghai and Altanta-Beijing.
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10781
DL's petition: http://www.nextgatewaytochina.com/

Northwest Airlines has applied for Detroit-Shanghai and Detroit-Beijing routes.
http://www.nwa.com/corpinfo/newsc/2007/pr071620071861.html
NW's petition: http://www.nwa.com/features/chinabid/

MaxJet, the all business class Boeing 767 airline, is a surprise candidate in proposing a Shanghai-Seattle route with continuing same-plane service to LAX.
http://www.maxjet.com/docs/7_17_07_China_application.pdf
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/search/autosuggest.jsp?docid=256530&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aviationnow.com%2Favnow%2Fnews%2Fchannel_comm_story.jsp%3Fview%3Dstory%26id%3Dnews%2FCHIF07187.xml

USAirways seeks to expand its flights to China with a new Philadelphia-Beijing flight. The flight will originate in Charlotte, NC.
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/aboutus/pressroom/newservice/index.aspx?c=00241_hp_china
US's petition: http://www.choicestochina.com/

More reading:
Air Transport World story on China route applications:
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=9574

Singapore Airlines upgrades aircraft on Singapore non-stop

Singapore Airlines recently replaced the 181 seat Airbus A340-500 on the LAX-Singapore non-stop flight with a 278 seat Boeing 777-300ER. The new 777 service will provide 8 First Class seats, 42 Executive Class seats and 228 Economy class seats. The new aircraft increases seat capacity on this route by 54%.

The aircraft interior is simply gorgeous. See it for yourself here: http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/exp/new/index.jsp

Compare the two aircraft seating plans at SeatGuru.com:
A340-500: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singapore_Air/Singapore_Air_Airbus_A345.php
B777-300ER: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singapore_Air/Singapore_Air_Boeing_777-300ER.php

LAX adding new flights

Contrary to what you are reading in the newspapers, LAX is adding more domestic and international flights. The new services are grouped below by airline.

American Airlines
American is the second largest airline at LAX. American's regional carrier, American Eagle, is adding a new non-stop to Santa Fe, NM on December 14th. Flights will be on American Eagle's 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 regional jets.
http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2007_07/23_santafe.jhtml

Delta Airlines
Delta is expanding its service in a big way at LAX. Western Airlines had served many of the domestic and Mexican destinations listed below from LAX. Delta acquired Western in 1986. Delta is also adding service to some cities in Mexico and Central America that have never before had non-stop service to LAX. Did you know LAX is the number one U.S. airport in flights to Mexico? New non-stops added in June and July include:
Boise, ID
Denver, CO
Oakland, CA
McAllen, TX
Oklahoma City, OK (starts September 4)
Phoenix, AZ
Sacramento, CA
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Santa Fe, NM (starts December 10)
Spokane, WA
Vancouver, Canada
Belize City, Belize
Guanacaste-Liberia, Costa Rica
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Culiacan, Mexico
Guadalajara, Mexico
Hermosillo, Mexico
La Paz, Mexico
Loreto, Mexico
Los Mochis, Mexico
Terreon, Mexico
Tijuana, Mexico
Zacatecas, Mexico
Zihuatanejo, Mexico
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10558
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10639
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10699
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10722
http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10790

MaxJet
MaxJet is an all-business class airline flying Boeing 767-200ER's from the U.S. to London's Stansted Airport (airport code STN). Stansted, located east of central London, is a major base for two of Europe's largest low cost airlines, Ryanair and easyJet. There is a convenient rail connection from London Stansted to central London. MaxJet will begin offering four weekly flights from LAX to London Stansted on August 30, 2007. http://www.maxjet.com/homeAction.do#/html/flyingMaxjet/flyingMaxjetLosAngeles.html

United Airlines
United is the largest airline serving LAX. On September 5th, United is adding a Wichita, KS daily roundtrip served by explus on a Canadair Regional Jet 700 and in October a daily flight to Hong Kong with continuing service to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on a Boeing 747-400. http://www.united.com/press/detail/0,6862,58186,00.html
http://www.united.com/press/detail/0,6862,58105,00.html

Welcome to the LAX Blog!

The goal of the LAX Blog is to be the number one source of information on all matters concerning Los Angeles International Airport. In addition, we will cover other L.A. City owned airports such as LA/Ontario, LA/Palmdale and Van Nuys Airport. Blog away!