Future of LAX
 

What have you all heard top men saying, or what are your theories on the future of LAX?

Delta is investing many millions into the terminal and it seems like growth will continue with the C-Series coming. Will the terminal changes help our flying grow or will this really only befenit the JVs?

The 757/767 flying is good and it’s nice to have the 777, but do we expect a 350 base eventually? What about the 330? A 320 base would seem logical as well with the 321neo offering premium range and comfort coast to coast and to Hawaii.

Thoughts?

One rumor I heard second hand, supposedly from ML, WRCP (figure that one out!) was 777's are going away to be replaced with 330's. No idea what the time frame is however. Seems like a bad idea IMO with the size LA 777 has gotten. That would create a training tsunami!

one rumor I heard last week flying with an LAX CA is that the company hired to do the terminal remodel got fired and replaced, which is setting things back at least a year

Not sure what can be done with that odd terminal, talk about an uncomfortable place to hang out.

Both terminals aren't great IMO, T2 is nice & shiny but always feels congested/loud. T3 of course is craptastic. Whatever they are building just west of Bradley we should take that and call it good :D

What terminal in LAX isn't congested & loud? Terminals 1-8 are always clogged full of people without adequate infrastructure to sit, eat, stand, walk, etc. The whole airport is an epitome of Southern California

Very true.

Ive heard 330 base eventually in LAX as well as 320 in LAX and SEA. CSeries to replace 717.

Can the 330 reach SYD?

If it stops in Pago Pago for gas. It's 14.5 hrs at M.84 on the 777.

Ray,

Where did you hear this?

I’m wondering too. It makes sense to me because if all the Airbus planes on order, but I’m not a route planner so maybe it doesn’t make sense?

From CA's that have come back from in command. Makes sense with all of the 320's coming that there will be west coast bases as well. As far as the CSeries and 717 that has been the talk for a while.

This stuff is still a few years off into the future. At least until the terminal construction projects are finished in LAX and SEA

As always things are subject to change every minute of the day around here.

supposedly some group filed a petition to register T3 as a National Historic Terminal so they can't alter it. Again, this is all second-hand info. I'm not based in LAX; just passing along the gossip :)

Nobody is going to register T3 as a historic anything!

Heard as we start getting the ETOPS 321s we can start seeing LAX-HNL etc. so I'm sure a 320 LAX base is on the horizon.

Hopefully wthin nxt 4yrs. :)

LAX has the most origination and destination passengers of any airport in the world. There’s a ton of money that flows through that airport. It’s the only airport where all 3 of the legacy carriers have a hub (5 if you could Alaska and Southwest). There’s a reason Delta is investing $2 Billion dollars there. I also think with all the redevelopment money ($14 Billion dollars total), the new light rail to the airport, the terminal people mover, consolidated rent a car center, and the consolidated transportation facility, LA may be one of the best large airports in the country when it’s all complete (5 years from now).

Are we paying for the terminal improvements there or is L.A? It seems we just spent money to fix up terminal 5 and 6. Then we move to the north side and give our nice updated terminals to Virgin, Spirit, and Allegiant. Now we are living in their old suck hole and have to keep spending to make it nice now. I hope the money for improvements isn’t coming out of our pockets.

Lots easier getting in/out on the North side in my experience so there’s that.

American is flying their 321's with full loads (185ish seats) from HNL
without too much trouble apparently. Though they have a higher MTOW version.
They do have payload issues when departing from other Hawaiian airports with shorter runways.

Hawaiian is also taking delivery of 321NEOs to fly the thinner US routes.

We are, and we did. Since we invested hundreds of millions in T5, LAWA and the other airlines were willing to permit the huge terminal swap. That way LAWA also got us to redo their most decrepit, T3. We are also going to connect T2-T3-Tom Bradley. Better move long run for Delta, even if it costs a ton today.

Its a bit more complicated than that. From what I have heard via the CPO when this first came up DAL will receive "credit" for all the improvements we paid for at T-5. Not sure exactly how, but there is some sort of cost spreading mechanism in work here.

The good news is that this is California so whatever "mechanism" they have come up with you can be sure that it will work and be 100% efficient. :eek:

Scoop

Obviously California has stolen the NY-NJ Port Authority playbook.

"You might find better but you won't find more expensive." 😁

So they are not 321neos then right? Do they have a different engine than the Delta 321s?

They are CEO's. However they are equipped with the IAE V2500 version.
I believe it's a bit more powerful than our CFM 56. But I don't think there is a significant performance difference.

The key takeaway in LAX is that even though T2 and T3 suck we are the only large carrier that now has the means for a significant expansion down the road.

Might be waiting for the customs facility is finished before more international flights are added and there is some gate swapping going on as well. Not sure what he net gain of gates will be though.

They've said elsewhere (sorry, don't remember off the top of my head) that SEA is basically at max capacity without more gates (they've been being added... slowly) and the international arrivals facility being complete. After the IAF is built, I would expect SEA will grow further. SEA, strategically, is closer to Asia than LAX is. An hour and a half closer to NRT, ICN.... that is a competitive advantage vs AA and UA flying it from LAX/SFO, and with the huge Amazon expansion and growth in SEA, it makes sense to compete in SEA in a big way.

Looking at the airport plan, it sure looks like we could end up with as much mainline gate space as Alaska has by the time it's all said and done. I think if we don't have the same it'll be fairly close. Alaska has almost half the airport as it sits right now. That's not counting Alaska's hard stand gates for 737s and RJs/Q400s

I'd say SEA is certainly near capacity for the moment, we are now using remote parking and buses with being a few gates down for the IAF construction.

According to the AE they are planning LAX and SEA as 320 bases sometime in the future (within 5 years).

Makes sense as the 757s go the way of the Dodo.

Was that stated explicitly on the AE?

Yes. Very first page, in the 320 section.

Any ideas why they are moving a lot of 7ER flying out of ATL to LAX and SEA? They are bulking up that category quite a bit in LA.

Maybe the offset of 330 time in atl is providing opportunity to shift the time?

As the 321's and 739's come on line, they are replacing 757's on most domestic routes out of ATL. The 75's are better suited to transcons and Hawaii flying.

Don’t forget our favorite Central America destinations like San Jose and Guatemala City.