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LOS
ANGELES – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has partnered
with the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)
to significantly overhaul Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International
Airport (LAX). The $229-million construction project has already
begun and is scheduled to take place in several phases with full
completion in 2015.
Highlights
of the project include doubling the size of the ticketing lobby
and federal security screening checkpoints; an exclusive Sky Priority
experience with a separate lobby and checkpoint; a private VIP
check-in lobby that will provide the most elite experience available
at LAX; a renovation of the Delta Sky Club to include full-service
bar, new carpet, tile, and additional recharge stations for personal
electronic devices; new baggage carousels; upgraded facilities
to improve international baggage recheck; and new finishes providing
a cleaner, brighter customer experience. In addition, 15 new restaurants
and shops featuring celebrity chefs and retail brand names that
reflect the cuisine, culture and lifestyle of Los Angeles will
complete their phased openings this year.
“Los
Angeles is a critical global gateway for Delta’s domestic
and international customers and we are thrilled this project –
which will greatly improve the customer experience from curbside
to planeside – is underway,” said Ranjan Goswami,
Delta’s managing director – West Coast Sales. “But
none of this would be possible without the great partnership and
collaborative effort made by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAWA
Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey. Their leadership has truly
paved the way for the improvements our Los Angeles-area customers
are already starting to see and feel.”
“As
LAX undergoes a $4.1-billion modernization, we have made it a
priority to improve domestic travel as well as updating our international
terminal,” Mayor Villaraigosa said. “By overhauling
Terminal 5 at LAX, Delta Air Lines helps us ensure that LAX becomes
the premier gateway to Los Angeles and to the rest of the United
States.”
LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey said, “This is
an important milestone in the continuing modernization of LAX.
The partnership with Delta Air Lines is enabling significant improvement
in customer service and convenience for both domestic and international
travelers.”
The project
is funded using approximately $12 million of Delta Air Line’s
invested capital for proprietary improvements (airline lounge,
check-in lobbies, finishes, other architectural elements, etc.);
approximately $25 million in reimbursements from the Transportation
Security Administration for security-screening measures; and the
remainder in LAWA commercial paper/long-term debt, LAWA cash on
hand, and Passenger Facility Charges collections. NO funds from
the City of Los Angeles’ General Fund are being used. The
project will support more than 200 construction-related jobs in
Southern California.
Last month,
Delta announced plans to increase service at LAX with daily year-round
and seasonal service to 14 destinations, including eight new markets:
Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; Bozeman, Montana; Nashville, Tennessee;
Seattle; San Jose, California; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Spokane,
Washington. The additional service adds 12 percent more daily
seats in the market. This summer, Delta will operate 118 peak-day
departures to 40 nonstop destinations, including Sydney and Tokyo,
from Los Angeles. Delta operates transcontinental flights between
Los Angeles and New York-JFK seven times daily. All Los Angeles
domestic service offers customers the option of first class, Economy
Comfort or economy seating, along with in-flight Wi-Fi.
Customers
flying from Los Angeles also benefit from Delta’s agreements
with domestic partner Alaska Airlines and key international carriers,
including WestJet and Virgin Australia, as well as Sky Team partners
Air France-KLM, Alitalia, Korean Air, AeroMéxico, China
Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, and Aeroflot . Delta
expects to begin codesharing on flights between Los Angeles and
London-Heathrow airport with partner Virgin Atlantic Airways later
this year.
About
Los Angeles International Airport
LAX is
the sixth busiest airport in the world and third in the United
States, offering 680 daily flights to 96 domestic cities and 930
weekly nonstop flights to 59 cities in 30 countries on 63 commercial
air carriers. It ranks 13th in the world in air cargo tonnage
processed. In 2012, LAX served nearly 63.7 million passengers,
processed over 1.9 million tons of air cargo valued at nearly
$89.6 billion, and handled 605,480 aircraft operations (landings
and takeoffs). An economic impact study in 2011 reported that
operations at LAX generated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County
with labor income of $13.6 billion and economic output of more
than $39.7 billion. This activity added $2.5 billion to local
and state revenues. LAX is part of a system of three Southern
California airports – along with LA/Ontario International
Airport and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and
operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department
of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s
general fund.
For more
information about LAX, please visit www.lawa.aero/lax
or follow us on Twitter @LAX_Official,
on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport,
and on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/laxairport.
For Information about the LAX Modernization Program, please visit
www.la-next.com.
About
Delta Air Lines
Delta
Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta
was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide
in its 2013 World’s Most Admired Companies airline industry
list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With
an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection
carriers offer service to 313 destinations in 57 countries on
six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly
80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more
than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam
global alliance and participates in the industry’s leading
trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia.
Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers
more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta,
Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia,
New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, and Tokyo-Narita.
Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities
and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer
experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information
is available on www.delta.com,
Twitter
@Delta, Google.com/+Delta,
and www.Facebook.com/delta.
