Opinion: LAX’s new luxury terminal provides a model for taxing wealthy Californians

To the editor: Steve Lopez again writes about the pampering of the rich. His interviewees will think nothing of spending thousands of dollars to use the new private luxury terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on top of the already stratospheric price of first-class tickets. I believe, just as Lopez’s sources, that there will be many who will shell out the money to avoid having to share the rest of the airport with the public. (“LAX’s new private terminal for the rich and famous makes flying easier, but at a steep price,” May 3)

There’s a lesson here for lawmakers who fret about the extra tax California requires its top earners to pay. How about offering an incentive to our rich neighbors? Provide them with an authentic gold-colored plaque suitable for mounting on their privacy gate that declares, “I paid more!”

Just don’t call it a tax. Maybe call it an “incentive fee for the wealthy to gain separation,” which has such a nice ring to it.

Charles R. Traupmann, San Pedro

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To the editor: In detailing the impressive amenities that come with the pricey membership of LAX’s new luxury lounge, Lopez seems to be calling attention to what the masses deem the “harsh realities” of flying.

To help mitigate this impression, I suggest we keep things in historical perspective. The settlers were burying their kin while crossing the plains; I have twice flown coast-to-coast without having to use the bathroom, enduring only the trauma of having to remove my shoes.

William P. Bekkala, West Hollywood

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To the editor: As passengers wait on the tarmac for 30 minutes or more while the brain surgeons at LAX find a gate for the apparently unexpected event of a plane landing, I am heartened that a way has been found to separate the rich and famous from the horror of normal air travel.

This type of royal treatment will make celebrities even more uniquely positioned to tell everyone else how to vote.

Paul Zimmelman, Marina del Rey

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