FLYAWAY BUSES TO LAX TO ROLL FROM NEW STATION PROJECT TO OPEN BEFORE FINISHED.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

With great fanfare, the upgraded FlyAway terminal at Van Nuys Airport will open today in time for the holiday season, even though the project, beset with delays and flaws, won't actually be complete until April or later.

Using FlyAway buses to and from Los Angeles International Airport will be free of cost today only, but parking spaces will be at a premium, with only 1,585 for travelers bound for LAX - about half of the 3,261 parking spaces anticipated when the project is complete.

``We're really doing everything we can to accommodate travelers over the holidays,'' said Van Nuys Airport spokeswoman Stacy Geere. ``We're very optimistic that this will accommodate all of the travelers this coming weekend.''

City Councilman Tony Cardenas, members of the Airport Commission and Kim Day, the director of Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that runs the city's airports, are among the officials scheduled to attend the 9 a.m. ceremony today for the partially upgraded FlyAway terminal and new parking garage. Mayor James Hahn is not expected to attend.

From the outset in mid-2003, the $34 million FlyAway project has been troubled. At one point, officials of the Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA agency threatened to oust the contractor, Tutor-Saliba Inc., because of the problems.

Today, the ground level is scheduled to open in a five-tier parking structure that has been plagued with design and construction flaws. When finished, the parking structure will have spaces for 2,041 vehicles.

Day, the LAWA agency executive director, wrote in a Dec. 9 report that the FlyAway is scheduled to be finished April 1, or 205 days behind schedule. The project is expected to cost $36 million, and the airport agency could withhold as much as $3.6 million in cost overruns from Tutor-Saliba, Day wrote.

Travelers pay $4 a day to park at the FlyAway, less than half the price at most lots near LAX. Adult travelers pay $3.50 for a one-way bus ride to LAX and $6 for a round trip. Children pay $1.75 one way and $3.50 round trip.

Airport officials said more than 730,000 passengers used the FlyAway in 2003. The service opened in 1975, and the upgrade now under way is the first major one.

``It is breathtaking to me that the community was able to go to LAWA and city officials and make them do something, and LAWA actually did it,'' said Robert Rodine, head of the transportation committee for the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.

``But the community did not get what they were looking for in terms of design. When you look at the structure, it's really a gray, ugly, metal desk.''

Tutor-Saliba, which is based in Sylmar, has a long and controversial record in public-works projects. The firm has contributed to Los Angeles politicians' campaigns and won the FlyAway contract despite cost overruns and construction defects on other high-profile projects in California.

Cardenas, who represents Van Nuys, praised the FlyAway's design and usefulness.

``A lot of careful planning and effort that has gone into the FlyAway has paid off, both in terms of improving the valuable service it provides to San Fernando Valley residents and as an architectural enhancement to the community.''

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Anita Cortez sweeps the lobby of the new FlyAway bus terminal in Van Nuys before the ceremonial opening today.

(2 -- color) Miguel Delgadillo, left, and Ken Henry install lights Thursday in preparation for the partial opening of the new FlyAway bus terminal and car-parking structure today.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer