Mayor Urges Reopening of Parking Lots at LAX

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn called on airport officials Wednesday to find a way to reopen the central terminal area at Los Angeles International Airport to private traffic and parking, a change city officials have resisted until now, citing security concerns.

A ban on private vehicles in the central area was imposed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to comply with a federal order prohibiting cars within 300 feet of terminal buildings.

That, combined with the subsequent closure of the parking in that area, has frustrated airport passengers and thrown hundreds of parking lot attendants and cashiers out of work. On Wednesday, several hundred airport workers marched to City Hall to protest loss of their jobs.

The tension between the airport’s security needs and its place as a significant employer--particularly of entry-level workers--makes it a lightning rod in the debate over the appropriate level of safety in the aftermath of the attacks in New York and near Washington, as well as the downing of a plane in Pennsylvania.

Federal officials dismayed by the ability of terrorists to board airplanes in three cities almost simultaneously on Sept. 11 have imposed tightened systems at the nation’s airports. Labor leaders and others are worried, however, that those measures may go further than needed at LAX, in the process unnecessarily eliminating jobs.

“I’ve asked the people out at the airport to see . . . if there is a way to get some parking lots open,” Hahn said during “Ask the Mayor,” a monthly call-in show on KFWB-AM (980). “We want to get a report back next week to see if there is a way to open those parking lots and still comply with security concerns.”

The mayor, who has long valued his relationship with the unions that represent city workers, said he wasn’t sure if there was a way to do both, but added: “I’d like to see those jobs come back.”

In response to Hahn’s request and direction from the Airport Commission, airport officials on Wednesday began preparing a request to the Federal Aviation Administration for a waiver of the ban on private traffic in the central terminal area.

Paul Haney, deputy executive director at Los Angeles World Airports, said the request will include results of a bomb blast study from 1997 that demonstrated the strength of the parking lot structures.

“Our sense is that we have the basis for obtaining a waiver” because of the way the structures are reinforced, Haney said.

The latest move contrasts with the immediate local reaction to this month’s attacks.

Three days after the terrorists struck, city officials--including Hahn--agreed that the central LAX parking lots would remain closed to passengers. They also supported banning private cars and trucks from the circular roadway that passes LAX’s nine principal terminals, saying passenger cars could clog the road and block emergency vehicles trying to respond to a crisis.

But in the days since, labor leaders representing laid-off workers have vigorously protested the ban, saying airport officials have overreacted. Other major airports have kept their parking lots open.

During a previously scheduled breakfast with the mayor on Monday, union leaders urged Hahn to consider the economic impact of keeping the parking lots closed.

On Tuesday, the Airport Commission reaffirmed its commitment to keep cars away from the central terminal area, calling the ban “prudent and necessary.”

However, the commission also directed LAX police officials and airport staff to prepare a report for next week’s commission meeting on the possibility of reopening the terminal area.

Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said Hahn’s position does not represent a change but rather an attempt to balance the challenges facing LAX.

“The highest priority at the airport is to make it a safe and secure airport, but he also recognizes the economic impact, and would very much like to get the central parking lots open,” said Middlebrook.

In addition to Hahn, Councilman Eric Garcetti urged airport officials to consider applying for a federal waiver that would allow some of the parking lots to reopen. City lawmakers also took steps to give laid-off workers other city jobs.

“The terrorists have achieved their goals” if people are out of work, Garcetti said. “We need to make sure those jobs are there, and we need to get back on with our lives.”

At the urging of Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the council voted 12 to 0 to direct the city’s Personnel Department to compile an inventory of vacant city positions and consider former airport employees for those positions.

Workers who packed the council meeting responded with applause.

“We are grieving at this moment,” said Madeline Janis-Aparicio, director of the LA Alliance for a New Economy. “People have a right to be concerned about safety issues, but it has to be considered in the overall picture. [Workers] have been laid off suddenly with no notice.”

Although airport officials expressed dismay over the layoffs, they cautioned that the airport must follow safety rules.

“If we don’t do what the FAA says, they can literally decertify the airport and close it down,” said airport Police Chief Bernard Wilson.

In another example of how decreased air travel threatens airport jobs, the nation’s largest producer of in-flight meals announced Wednesday that it plans to furlough up to 30% of its employees. An executive with SKG Sky Chefs reported to Congress that the company’s 16,000-member work force would be hit heavily by the travel slowdown. About 3,300 of the company’s employees work in California.