Airport officials have delayed a decision on whether to approve more than $80M worth of contracts to design Los Angeles International’s (LAX) new Midfield Satellite Concourse and several gates on the back of the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
The $1.3B concourse was expected to have eight to 10 new gates that could handle supersize jetliners by January 2012; instead, the board of airport commissioners will put their focus on expanding the Bradley terminal.
“We did indicate to the city council that we could deliver new, large aircraft at the Midfield Satellite, and the operable element of that was delivering new, large aircraft gates by January 2012 because that was when the market demand was going to increase,” says Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports.
“It became clear that we could actually, relatively straightforwardly, build some gates on the back side of the Tom Bradley terminal,” she says. “We are relatively confident that if we press forward without significant delay, then we are able to get those contact gates.”
The Los Angeles City Council voted in August to build the concourse, but the project proved to be too complex for a short deadline.
“This is going to be something that’s going to serve everybody for a generation and it’s way more important to get it right,” says Alan Rothenberg, president of the airport commission.
