LAX parking structures reach capacity amid computer-caused flight woes

It’s been a long day of delays at Los Angeles International Airport and other airports in the region after a Federal Aviation Administration computer glitch closed down flight operations earlier Wednesday.

Now parking structures 3, 4, 5 and 6 at LAX are occasionally at capacity, flooded with people who parked and chose to wait inside terminals for passengers on delayed flights.

The airport, which had been backed up since the FAA halted flights about 3 p.m. for about an hour, says in a statement that departures should return to normal by 11 p.m. and arrivals by midnight.

To help alleviate parking problems, the airport asks drivers to use parking structures 1, 2, 7 and Economy Lot C at 96th Street and Sepulveda Boulevard (and take a free shuttle to the airport) rather than clog structures closer to the terminals.

It also advises drivers to park in the Cellphone Waiting Lot adjacent to Lot C and await a call from their party before proceeding into the airport.

The FAA said on its Facebook page:

“The FAA’s Los Angeles Center air traffic control facility experienced technical issues and stopped accepting additional flights into the airspace managed by the facility for about an hour earlier today. Some flights were diverted and the agency issued a nationwide groundstop for flights heading into the airspace managed by the center. The agency is gradually restoring the system.”

Throughout the day, 27 arriving flights were canceled, 212 were delayed and 27 were diverted to other airports, LAX says. And 23 departing flights were canceled, largely because of unavailable aircraft from canceled arrivals, and 216 were delayed.

LAX, John Wayne Airport in Orange County and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank were among the airports affected.

mary.forgione@latimes.com

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