Flight Delay

Orange County Business Journal, May 5-May 11, 2008 by Cain, Sandi

John Wayne, Other Airports Under Remodeling

Tighter security, airline delays, flight cancellations and airline bankruptcies already have made business travel tedious. For the next couple of years, remodels and expansions at Southern California airports are likely to test travelers' nerves even more.

John Wayne Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and San Diego International Airport all are planning muchneeded expansions and improvements that are likely to make passenger terminals-if not the skies-more crowded.

On July 1, John Wayne Airport is set to begin a $652 million expansion to add a 250,000-square-foot terminal with six passenger gates.

The expansion also adds a facility for eight commuter planes, a replacement parking structure and a relocated area for overnight plane parking.

The terminal is set to go up where the parking structure at terminal B now sits. The parking structure is set to be demolished.

Some replacement parking is expected to open by Aug. 1. But the expansion is set to cause a parking crunch, according to airport officials.

John Wayne's current terminals were built to handle 8.4 million passengers a year. They saw 9.6 million passengers in 2007, up 3.8% from 2006.

Through 2008, the airport is allowed 10 million yearly passengers under an agreement with neighboring Newport Beach. After that, the airport is allowed 10.3 million passengers each year.

"We're pretty maxed out," said Jenny Wedge, an airport spokeswoman.

The expansion is designed to ease terminal congestion, Wedge said. Travelers shouldn't expect much of a change in the number of flights, she said.

"An increase in passenger (capacity) doesn't give you more runways," she said.

John Wayne has just one runway that's hemmed in by a freeway, streets and buildings. Expanding the runway would be a mammoth project that few see as an option given surrounding development and opposition to the airport by residents in Newport Beach and Santa Ana Heights.

Travelers may see a new carrier at John Wayne Airport. The Orange County Supervisors expect to make a decision soon about how to allocate the capacity that was used by Aloha Airlines, which went out of business last month.

LAX

Los Angeles International Airport is in the midst of a major overhaul that includes runway reconfigurations, terminal upgrades and baggage delivery systems.

The expansion runs through 2011. Officials periodically warn travelers that the airport will be "crowded and inconvenient" at times until then.

A $33 million south airfield improvement project begun in 2006 is set to add a 75-footwide center taxiway between a new runway and the original runway. It was designed to reduce runway incursions, shorten idling time and enable the airport to handle the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787.

Those bigger, heavier jets carry 500 to 800 passengers each.

Completion of the south airfield is expected by summer. In October, Qantas is set to be the first airline to fly the Airbus A380 from Los Angeles to Australia.

In a previous briefing, Paul Haney, deputy executive director, public and community relations for LAX operator Los Angeles World Airports, said accommodating the A380 was vital to Southern California tourism.

"The marketplace determines where the A3 80 goes," he said. "The economic impact of visitors means we must (accommodate) it."

Without the runway improvement, LAX likely would lose out on global routes flown by overseas airlines that were among the first to order the larger jets.

Some airlines last year rerouted flights to San Francisco International Airport-a much smaller airport than LAX-because of crowded customs facilities in Los Angeles, said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in Los Angeles.

It's unclear whether Los Angeles will recoup those flights later. International travel represents a quarter of all flights at LAX.

"A limited LAX is music to their ears in San Francisco or Salt Lake City," said Mike Boyd, president of aviation consultancy Boyd Group in Evergreen, Goto. "LAX is a main gateway. Anything that constricts LAX will constrict the region."

But the shrinking dollar has encouraged other global airlines to weather the construction with increased service. Taiwan's EVA Air launched service between LAX and Osaka, Japan, in January. Korean Air started service to Brazil in March.

Qantas has upped its Brisbane service by two flights weekly and added flights to Sydney in April. In early March, Dubai's Emirates Airline started nonstop LAX-Dubai service. Alitalia will start nonstop service to Rome in June and VAustralia, a unit of Virgin Blue, will begin service to Australia in December.

LAX's Tom Bradley International Terminal is getting a $723.5 million renovation. The first phase was done in December at the customs arrival hall.

The airport's landmark Encounter Restaurant also reopened in December after a $10 million makeover. An additional $20 million in lounge improvements that added 47,000 square feet of space for business and first-class passengers also opened at year's end.