HOW DOES L.A. RANK OUT OF TOP 36 AIRPORTS? LAX IS LACKING : OVERALL 29TH; GATES 26TH; BAGGAGE 33RD; CLOSE PARKING 28TH; SIGN CLARITY 30TH; GROUND TRANSPORT 31ST; ATTRACTIVENESS 30TH; CLEANLINESS 32ND.Byline: Eric Moses and Eric Leach Daily News Staff Writers Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX ranks 29th out of 36 major U.S. airports in a passenger survey that looked at seven categories including speed of baggage retrieval, ground transportation, ease of following signs and cleanliness. The dismal report came at the same time that LAX is planning to add at least one runway and build more terminals to accommodate an expected increase in the number of passengers by as much as 38 million - about 50 percent more than now. The survey of 90,000 passengers nationwide was conducted last year by Reseda-based Plog Research Inc. Los Angeles International Airport rated poorly in every category with slow baggage delivery at the bottom, getting a ranking of 33 out the 36 airports. An LAX spokeswoman said the proposed airport expansion will help improve passenger satisfaction. Critics of the expansion said more air and passenger traffic would only make LAX worse and suggested that building a new, modern airport in an outlying area such as Palmdale was necessary. ``The airports that come out on top in the survey are the ones that are newer, where airport designers have a chance to plan for modern air travel. LAX was put together in an era of much less air traffic than we have today,'' said Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter Ruth Galanter was a city councilwoman from Los Angeles. She served as President Pro-Tempore and President of the city council. , who opposes the current expansion plans of LAX, which is in her district. ``At LAX we're constrained by the space, by its size - by the fact that its location and how you get there was all designed in a different era,'' Galanter said. In the survey results, LAX ranked near the bottom of each category: 32nd in cleanliness, 31st in available ground transportation, 33rd in quickness of baggage delivery, 30th in clear, easy to follow signs, 28th in closeness of parking, 26th in ease of reaching gates and 30th in airport attractiveness. ``No one is every satisfied with that kind of ranking,'' said Nancy Suey Castles, public affairs Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. Also called PA. See also command information; community relations; public information. director for Los Angeles World Airports Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA is the airport oversight and operations department for the city of Los Angeles, California. This department owns and operates Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Van , adding she could not comment directly on the survey because she had not seen it. ``However, there is room for improvements and we are working on the improvements.'' But not soon enough for Rick Storlich, a finance manager from Tel Aviv Tel Aviv (tĕl əvēv`), city (1994 pop. 355,200), W central Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. Oficially named Tel Aviv–Jaffa, it is Israel's commercial, financial, communications, and cultural center and the core of its largest who banged his cart loaded with five bags into another passenger's luggage outside the Tom Bradley Noun 1. Tom Bradley - United States politician who was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles (1917-1998) Bradley, Thomas Bradley International Terminal. Storlich was frantic as he looked for the America West terminal. But he saw no terminal directory, no one to help him, and no signs for the airport-run, terminal to terminal, free shuttle bus. Storlich said he had just 15 minutes to catch his flight to Phoenix. ``I had to ask about five people for directions,'' he said, shaking his head in exasperation when told he had to walk nearly a quarter-mile to Terminal 1. ``What do older people do when they have international connections?'' he asked, hurrying to catch his plane. Lynn Even, a software developer from Omaha, Neb., was lucky to get out of the airport unscathed. While hurrying for a car rental shuttle so she could make the taping of ``The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Jay Leno (born April 28, 1950) is an Emmy-winning American comedian, writer who is best known as the current host of NBC television's long-running variety and talk program The Tonight Show. Biography Leno was born in New Rochelle, New York. ,'' she tripped on the curb, spilling her laptop computer and two handbags onto the airport roadway. Rubbing her knee, she complained of the lack of signs directing newly arrived passengers to shuttle buses. Some like LAX But Cheryl Damberg, a health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract researcher from Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , said LAX is ``the best airport in the country. You can get in and you can get out.'' She might know. Damberg estimated she travels every other day, and was returning from stops in Washington, D.C., Detroit and Chicago. Marta Ramirez of Arleta said she had no problem finding the Flyaway fly·a·way adj. 1. Made or worn loose or draped, as to allow or suggest fluttering in the wind: a flyaway coat; long, flyaway hair. 2. a. stop for the direct bus service to Van Nuys. ``It's marked. The signs direct you to where it is,'' Ramirez said while waiting for the bus. She also complimented the way Terminal 6 was decorated, but said ``out here, it's horrible.'' 90,000 surveyed The private survey was taken in the first six months of 1997, and based on the answers of about 90,000 passengers. The report was obtained by The Detroit News which published the results Monday. Calls to Plog Research were referred to a tape-recorded message saying that Plog conducts an ongoing survey of passengers in airports around the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The recorded statement said the survey asks passengers about services at airports, but none of the questions asks passengers to rank airports. The passenger feedback provides the data that allows for ranking the facilities. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the survey results, Tampa (Florida) International Airport was ranked at the top overall, followed by airports in Pittsburgh; Charlotte, N.C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Denver; Phoenix; and Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . Airports with the lowest overall rankings included Los Angeles, Philadelphia, La Guardia La Guar·di·a , Fiorello Henry Known as "the Little Flower." 1882-1947. American politician who was a U.S. representative from New York (1917-1921 and 1923-1933) and mayor of New York City (1934-1945). in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Midway in Chicago, Washington National, Boston Logan, Kennedy in New York and Detroit. Improvements on way Castles said a number of improvements are under way at LAX that should improve customer satisfaction. ``There have been tremendous improvements, multimillion-dollar improvements undertaken by the airlines and airport management during the past few years,'' Castles said. ``To meet future growth, Los Angeles World Airports has been undertaking an LAX master plan to allow us to meet the demand from 60 million passengers a year now, to 93 to 98 million annual passengers in 2015,'' she said. Among changes airport officials plan are improving shuttle transportation services and revising signs to use universal-language-type graphics, Castles said. Building Palmdale into an international airport to relieve congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. at LAX is not on the radar screen because passenger demand does not justify it now, Castles said. But, she added, a bullet train bullet train: see railroad. from Los Angeles to Palmdale would help make Palmdale more appealing. ``The airlines have to find it a viable market'' to build Palmdale into a major regional airport, she said. ``It depends on the success of high-speed rail High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions include 200-320 km/h (125-200 mph) - depending on whether the track is upgraded or new - by the European Union and above 90 mph .'' Galanter agreed. ``We are now overwhelmed at LAX,'' she said. ``If we build new facilities (at a location such as Palmdale) we have a chance to build for modern travel patterns without having to destroy something that is already there.'' Palmdale City Councilman David Myers said the airports at the top of the survey tend to be the smaller ones. ``The survey clearly demonstrates that passengers like smaller- to medium-size airports,'' he said. ``Up until now the focus has been on LAX - making it bigger and bigger, but customers are unhappy with bigger and bigger and bigger. ``It's really going to be the airlines that are going to determine what their customers want,'' Myers said. ``We want the airlines to come to Palmdale.'' HOW THEY RATE Here's how 36 of the nation's largest airports rank: 1. Tampa, Fla. 2. Pittsburgh 3. Charlotte, N.C. 4. Nashville, Tenn. 5. Denver 6. Phoenix 7. Las Vegas 8. Salt Lake City 9. Atlanta 10. Baltimore 11. Honolulu 12. Seattle 13. Kansas City 14. Minneapolis-St. Paul 15. Oakland 16. Memphis, Tenn. 17. Houston's George W. Bush International Airport 18. Raleigh-Durham, N.C. 19. Windsor Locks, Conn. 20. Chicago, O'Hare 21. San Francisco 22. Sacramento 23. St. Louis 24. Washington D.C., Dulles 25. Dallas-Fort Worth 26. Newark, N.J. 27. Miami 28. Portland, Ore. 29. Los Angeles 30. Philadelphia 31. New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , LaGuardia 32. Chicago, Midway 33. Washington D.C., National 34. Boston, Logan 35. New York City, John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 36. Detroit CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, box PHOTO (1 -- color) Recovering one's luggage was one of several categories in which the Los Angeles International Airport lagged in a survey. Gus Ruelas/Daily News (2 -- color) The Los Angeles International Airport's sign clarity and parking locations came up short in a satisfaction survey on America's airports. Gus Ruelas/Daily News Box: How they rate (see text) Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion