LOS ANGELES : Panel OKs Proposed Ban on Smoking in Airport Bars
A Los Angeles City Council panel approved an ordinance Tuesday that would ban smoking in airport bars, removing the last refuge for travelers who want to light up.
Pending approval by the full council, the ordinance would enact into law the strict no-smoking policy that the Airport Commission adopted last year.
“If this provision becomes effective, they have to go out on the sidewalk in front of the terminal,” Assistant City Atty. Jerry Montgomery told the Arts, Health and Humanities Committee.
Councilman Mike Hernandez, one of the council’s few smokers, groused that travelers would end up missing their flights.
But, he said, “I will reluctantly support the ordinance.”
In 1993, the commission banned smoking in all terminal areas except designated places in bars. The panel expanded the ban last year after tavern operators complained that smokers were clogging the entrances.
Right now, indoor smoking at Los Angeles International Airport is allowed only in a Tom Bradley International Terminal lounge for passengers on stopovers.
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