Fliers’ Fare : Airport Commission Seeks to Put Popular Restaurants on LAX Menu

The days of steamed hot dogs and vending machine pizzas may be numbered at Los Angeles International Airport. The city Tuesday invited popular restaurants and fast-food outlets to compete for the business of feeding hungry travelers.

The city Airport Commission voted unanimously to end a 34-year exclusive agreement that put Host Marriott in charge of all LAX food operations. The commission intends to bring in an array of smaller operators, ranging from espresso bars to bakeries, restaurants and burger stands.

Exactly who will feed the 46 million passengers who pass through the airport every year remains unclear.

But the new direction was hinted at by the list of companies that airport officials consulted before making the change, including Panda Express, Marie Callender, Tony Roma, Johnny Rockets International, Wolfgang Puck Foods, McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and Subway.

Proposals will be submitted over the next two months for nearly two dozen locations, withthe first new restaurants to open by late summer, officials said. About two dozen other bars and restaurants at the airport will continue to be run by a single general contractor. And Host Marriott executives said they will contend for that job.

“It is going to mean that travelers and the people going to meet family and friends will have the opportunity to eat at first-rate restaurants,” Ted Stein, president of the Airport Commission, said of the vote. “They will be able to buy products that are comparable or better than they would find at any other airport in the country.”

LAX has only experimented with brand name food and beverage outlets. But the lines for cafe lattes and espressos at the Starbuck’s coffee bar in Terminal 5 have made an impression.

“Definitely, it’s a welcome change,” said Rhonda Lowry, a Redondo Beach engineering consultant who had stopped for coffee. “It’s a little like being at home.”

The commission Tuesday rejected a staff proposal that would have promised the public lower prices, along with the snappier food selection. The proposal would have capped airport food bills at a maximum of 10% above those for equivalent items in the surrounding community.

John Wayne Airport in Orange County and the Pittsburgh, Pa., airport are among those that cap prices to prevent restaurants from exploiting a captive market. A survey last year by LAX officials found that high prices were the top concern of local travelers.

But airport commissioners said they prefer to rely on the free market to level prices at Los Angeles International. If that does not work, they said, they will have authority under the contracts to order prices decreased.

Stein said that price caps would limit the airport’s ability to attract the highest quality restaurants and to maximize the city’s revenue, one of Mayor Richard Riordan’s goals.

After taking office in July, Riordan’s commissioners quickly scrapped a plan that appeared likely to let Host Marriott remain in charge of LAX food operations. Riordan has said he wants to increase revenue at the airport. He hopes to tap the money to pay for city services, such as more police officers.

No estimates have yet been made of how much the city’s take might increase under the new system. The airport earned $7.8 million from food and beverage operations in the last fiscal year.

The mayor’s airport commissioners said they will offer more than improved food to boost sales. More than 40 food outlets will get face lifts, with brighter color schemes, neon signs, palm trees and Southern California pop motifs.

A sketch of the new mezzanine of the Tom Bradley International Terminal, for instance, depicts a golden Sunset Cafe, alongside palm trees, a Mexican food stand and a Beach Burger outlet topped by a surfboard-laden beach buggy.

“We want to create some more fun in the terminals and remind people where they are--in Los Angeles,” said Tom Rossbach, a consultant who helped draw the conceptual plans.

Other dining traditions will be harder to change.

The enigmatic Theme Restaurant--the giant, isolated pod structure at the center of the airport--will remain despite advice from restaurateurs that the facility would be better used for offices or a museum.

Instead, airport officials will lower the rent for the building and hope to attract a popular operator to improve flagging business.