sean’s place

New versus Old

In what may be curious symbolism of the trip; I recently had the pleasure of flying from LAX to DEN (by way of LAS) and was utterly shocked by the stark difference between Los Angeles’s older airport and Denver’s nearly new (mid-90’s) one.

The first thing that struck me was the amazing interactivity of LAX. To fly through this airport (I flew through Terminal 1), you need to be on top of your game. Things I took for granted at Denver, such as leaving my bags with the airline agent at the counter, are simply not the mode of operation at LAX. Instead, once your bag is “checked in”, you have to move it to the TSA screening area.

Then it came to the security line. They’re easy to discern, since it’s usually a queue of (now-)light travelers staring blankly at the back of the person immediately in front of them. Talking is strictly prohibited, I believe it may be a LA cultural thing. There are no signs. You simply proceed as the rest. For those unaware, security screening comes in two phases: the ID and boarding pass check, and then the physical examination step. At LAX, these two phases are disturbingly far apart. First, you get checked and stamped in by a TSA agent. No big deal. Then you mount a flight of stairs to an empty reception area, again devoid of signs. It takes a helpful, if not brusque, TSA agent to direct you up another flight of stairs to the secondary screening area (cleverly known as “Security Checkpoint 1A”). This is the overflow area; you see, normally you would proceed from the first stairs directly into a rope line. However, they miraculously found room for another area in a very strange part of the airport, about 60 feet past the airport’s Payroll and Administration offices. Again, no signs — except for one at the very head of the queue.

Now, it’s hard to fault LAX for their strange physical arrangement. It’s pretty obvious that the strange flow has to do with post-9/11 security measures that brought in new machines and slower procedures requiring more space. They found it where they could. I also imagine that “clear” signage may lead to sign overload.

I’m not going to even start on the crazy car traffic situation. It’s just nuts.

Suffice it to say, I’m not sure that much can be done about LAX’s Terminal 1 without a major renovation. Barring a way to use the instant between seconds to squeeze in the work, it’s hard to imagine such a renovation not causing a major disruption in the air transit system or making the current problems at LAX significantly worse. Good luck LAWA. I think from now on, I’m going to try to avoid LAX as a origination or destination airport. It’s just crazy!