Mixed Feelings on LAX Security

Some political leaders who oversee Los Angeles International Airport voiced misgivings Tuesday about the new ban on private vehicles near the airline terminals, but passengers had few complaints about the tightened security.

To avert terrorist attacks, LAX has barred private vehicles from the U-shaped road outside the passenger terminals and shut down the short-term parking structures at the center of the airport. Buses, shuttles and taxis licensed to operate at LAX are still permitted to drive up to the terminals.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a member of the council committee that oversees LAX, said she welcomed the security measures for now, but doubted whether restricted access would offer protection to passengers in the long run.

“I know we’re just being overly cautious, but it’s hard for me to make the connection between getting dropped off at the curb” and the terrorist attacks last week on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, she said.

Hahn suggested that tough enforcement of no-parking rules at the terminals might be just as effective. More important, she said, are tighter weapons checks inside the terminals.

“That’s where the weak link is,” she said. “That’s the point where we really have to make it absolutely secure.”

At the airport on Tuesday, buses, shuttles and taxis made their way around the terminals, but private vehicles were steered to parking lots east of the airport. One lot was for dropping off passengers, the other for picking them up. Passengers took buses between the lots and the airline terminals, where police presence was unusually strong.

At the lot for departing passengers, on Airport Boulevard, travelers said goodbye to friends and family, then boarded the buses for the terminals. The buses were lined up six or seven deep. They left every five minutes, some full.

“I don’t mind the inconvenience, as long as we’re safe,” said passenger Cheryl Harrison, who was leaving on a business trip to San Francisco.

“I hope we can park in the airport again, but if not, maybe we’ll get used to it,” said Marlene Rosario, who was dropping off her husband, Flor Rosario, for a trip to Texas to see his son.

New Safety Rules Effective Indefinitely

LAX spokeswoman Gail Gaddi said the airport would leave the new rules in effect indefinitely.

“This was a collaborative decision made by the Federal Aviation Administration and our airport, and this was to ensure we have the optimum passenger safety,” she said.

The security measures and loss of parking revenue are costing LAX about $1 million a day. Leland Wong, a member of the commission that oversees LAX management, said he hopes the U.S. government reimburses the airport for those costs.

Wong said the airport commission would reevaluate the security measures in the weeks ahead. But he and other commissioners said they were needed for now.

“We are committed to making LAX the safest airport in the world,” he said. “This is one way of ensuring we have some control as to what comes in and out of the central terminal areas. We have to take some drastic measures.”

Another airport commissioner, Armando Vergara, said the restrictions on vehicle access to the terminals would “create havoc,” but added: “The thing is, we’ve got to have safety. It’s been too lax. That’s our prime concern.”

Airlines have asked LAX to lift the ban on curbside drop-offs and pick-ups at the terminals.

“Our passengers are experiencing really long delays,” said Melanie Jones of Southwest Airlines, which serves nearly 60 other airports. “The L.A. airport is the only one in our system where we’re having this kind of issues.”

Paul Presburger, who was leaving on a business trip to London, said, “I’d love to see airport parking come back, but with all the tensions, I guess we’re going to have to live with this.”