Call it “Airmageddon.”
Over a four-night stretch in May, 24 airlines are planning to switch terminals at Los Angeles International Airport in what is believed to be the most extensive such relocation ever attempted at operating terminals at a U.S. airport.
While airline and airport officials said there will be no shutdowns, they are nonetheless planning a major outreach effort to travelers and transport services in the hope that, like the 405 freeway “Carmageddon” episode a few years back, it all goes without a hitch.
The linchpin for this massive relocation is Delta Air Lines, which is moving its operations from Terminals 5 and 6 to Terminals 2 and 3 as part of the Atlanta-based airline’s $1.9 billion expansion and modernization plan at LAX that features a complete makeover of Terminal 3. Delta has tripled the number of departures from the airport over the last decade, straining its current accommodations.
“We’ve grown more than any other airline here at LAX,” said Ranjan Goswami, Delta’s vice president of sales, western division, who is responsible for overseeing the shift.
The company’s move will initiate a chain reaction of other airline relocations. Most of the 21 airlines now in Terminals 2 and 3 will be displaced, forcing them to move to other terminals. That in turn will force relocation of part or all of several airline operations at other terminals.
In all, six of the airport’s nine terminals will be involved as two dozen airlines relocate some or all of their operations. Among the other airlines affected besides Delta: Aeromexico, Air Canada, Alaska, American, Copa, JetBlue, Spirit and Virgin Atlantic.
Delta will be footing the bill for almost all of the relocations, which the airline estimates will cost $60 million.
“An airline relocation of this scope has not been done anywhere as far as I know,” said Michael Boyd, president of Aviation Planning Consultants in Denver. “This is taking an operating airport and moving 20-plus airlines while the place is alive and pulsing.”
While single airlines have moved into newly renovated terminals at other airports, rarely has that involved the relocation of multiple airlines. There have been cases where airports have opened that have involved airline relocations – such as Denver International Airport 22 years ago – but Boyd said those moves were much simpler, since the infrastructure was set up before the airline personnel moved. At LAX, it will all be done simultaneously.
The exact timing of the moves – and which airlines are relocating to which terminals – are all supposed to be finalized this week at a meeting of airlines and airport officials. As of last week, the relocations were tentatively set to begin on May 12, according to a statement from Los Angeles World Airports, the city organization that runs LAX.
“This is a historic move at LAX, so everyone is meeting regularly, planning, and preparing for a smooth move,” said Mary Grady, director of media and public relations for LAWA.
Rapid Delta growth
Goswami said Delta’s primary reason for switching terminals is the need for more space. Delta had 55 daily departures from LAX in 2009; last summer, that number swelled to 175.
The airline has chosen LAX for rapid expansion of flights in part because the airport is a gateway to the burgeoning Asian travel market. Also, with the company’s recent partnership with Aeromexico, Delta is using the airport to increase penetration into the Mexican and Central American markets.
Delta is not the only airline seeing huge jumps in flights and passengers at LAX. About 80.9 million passengers went through the airport’s gates last year, up 8 percent from 2015, one of the biggest jumps in recent years. More than 13 million of those passengers were international.
The number of flights arriving and departing LAX also surged 9 percent last year to 623,000, a level that has strained taxiways and other airfield infrastructure.
With Delta adding so many flights, ticket and gate counters are increasingly crowded inside Terminals 5 and 6, while outside, the single taxiway to the gates is constantly choked with planes, slowing down arrivals and departures, according to Goswami. There are two taxiways to Terminals 2 and 3 that function like a two-lane road, allowing departing and arriving planes to remain in separate lanes.
Delta also wants to be physically closer to its joint-venture partner airlines – including Virgin Australia, Air France/KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and Aeromexico.
Delta passengers needing to connect to those airlines now must exit the company’s terminals, take a shuttle to one of the other terminals, and then pass again through security, a process that can take up to an hour. After the move and the $1 billion-plus Terminal 3 renovation – which will include an underground tunnel connection to the Tom Bradley International Terminal – Delta passengers will be able to connect to those airlines without having to step outside and go back through security.
“That means less time is needed to connect between flights, which is less hassle for our customers and smoother operations for Delta,” Goswami said.
Four-night move
Delta is working to ensure its massive relocation goes smoothly as well. Each of the four nights of the relocation will involve groups of five or six airlines moving.
Besides moving personnel, each airline’s information technology infrastructure – such as flight information servers – will be moving and reconnected in different terminals.
On the airfield, each airline must move ground equipment that is used to service and load planes.
“Every back office and front-of-house operation has to be moved and rebuilt,” Goswami said.
Delta will be operating in four terminals at once during the transition, he said. That poses a huge challenge in informing passengers, people picking up and dropping off those passengers, and transport services about the constantly changing airline locations.
“We will have hundreds of people deployed on the ground at LAX to help people with directions to ensure that people get to the right terminal, even if they show up at the wrong terminal,” Goswami said. “And we will be posting all the latest information on our Fly Delta app.”
Airport officials are also mounting an extensive effort to alert travelers to avoid any chaos during the relocation period.
“Advertising will be utilized to begin messaging the move to passengers several weeks before the move takes place, during the move, and afterwards,” LAWA’s Grady said. “Social media platforms and websites will be used to raise awareness of the upcoming move, signs will be posted in the Central Terminal Area, in terminals, and on airport shuttle buses.”
Equally important, Goswami said, Delta will be meeting with third-party transport companies, including shuttles, limousine services, meet-and-greet companies, taxis, and rideshare companies, so that those drivers and personnel know which airlines will be at which terminals at all times.
“It will be most critical that our drivers going into the airport be informed up to the minute about the changes,” said William Rouse, general manager of Yellow Cab of Los Angeles. “We don’t expect any problems in that regard and I’m not expecting that other taxi companies will have any problems with this either.”
