The Los Angeles Airport has begun its $230 million worth renovation project to upgrade its boarding bridges at Terminal 6. The 60-yeas old satellite terminal built-in 1961 will see some major improvements to gate areas, departure lounges, and jetbridges as part of LAX’s $14.5 billion modernization project.
The multi-billion-dollar airport renovation project is the largest airport of its kind in the U.S; it will also be introducing a 2.25-mile Automated People Mover Train-System with a total of six stations.
The airport had just recently finished its biometric skylanes in the New West Gates at the Tom Bradley International. The terminal gate was inaugurated on 24th May 2021.
Full-aspects Renovation Project
In an announcement, Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners, Sean Burton stated that LAX would bring their reimagined vision of the airport from scratch, providing the very best terminals, transportation, and services to their guests. Burton added that restructuring Terminal 6 is a significant opportunity to put the airport’s best foot forward to deliver the cutting-edge infrastructure promises.
The renovation project will improve various aspects of Terminal 6, including how the guests access the U.S Customs and Border Protection’s Federal Inspection Station, drastically improving the Transportation Security Screening Checkpoints with modern touches. The TSA security screening checkpoint will be integrated with five automated screening lanes and three standard lanes.
Also, the proposed efficient and convenient biometric technology will make boarding to be possible in one step without having to show a boarding pass or passport. The system developer, airport, or airlines will not keep any personal information related to the passengers during the biometric tests; the matching is done by CBP in the cloud and will be encrypted. If the passengers want to opt out of the facial recognition technology, they will still be able to go for the traditional passport and boarding pass processing through airline agents. On the security aspects, the terminal will be equipped with a secure entrance passage with swing doors and a patented unicity detection system that guarantees precise passenger tracking and a high level of security strictly monitoring the boarding passengers.
Moreover, after completion, Terminal 6 will have a drive-thru bus gate to improve the overall guest’s experience in the airport, easily accessing and transporting them from a terminal to another.
The contract for installation and operation between parents of LAX, Los Angles World Airport (LAWA), and Easier was signed on 7th November 2019 for a period of three years. Alaska Airlines was contracted to oversee the renovation project, which was signed with Easier on 7th November 2019.
The project is expected to complete in 2023, allowing faster passengers flow and better-in terminal experience, the three gates on the Southeast end of the Terminal 6 will be closed during the construction.
Proposed Four-Level Improvements on Los Angles International Airport Terminal 6
The improvement and renovation of Terminal 6 have been proposed in four-level; the first-level improvement would emphasize the existing Terminal 6 concourse, including the airside improvement within the current Terminal 6 perimeter. This level will mainly focus on the arrival level to provide an overall fine refinement to arriving guests.
The second-level renovation will focus on the Operational Safety Section(OPS)/apron level of Terminal 6, including demolition and replacement of the perimeter. The proposed renovation project would modify the aircraft parking positions, passengers boarding bridge locations, aircraft fueling system hydrant location, and parking location of the ground support equipment. The second-level improvement would accommodate the 15 gates of Terminal 6 and oversee electric charging stations’ installation to provide efficient support to the eclectic ground service equipment fleet.
The Level three innovation will concentrate on the concourse level and upgrading the passenger’s amenities. The passenger seatings, holds rooms, Federal Inspection Station access, and Security Screening Checkpoint areas. The improvisation to the holding room in the connector and satellite is aimed to coordinate with the seating and boarding areas to provide the International Air Transport Association Level of service with the extent as far as possible within the Terminal 6 apron.
And, the Fourth-level modification will be prioritized in the lounge area of the passengers. The vision of improving the passenger’s experience and service to the airline’s lounge would mark the expansion and reconfiguration of the lounge area to the South of the existing Alaska Airlines Lounge. Further, two more elevators will be added to the Terminal 6 lounge area to enhance the lounge’s passengers’ experience.
