Q&A with Nancy Castles: Public Relations Director at Los Angeles World Airports (LAX) Second in a series.

Robert Gagnier: What is the latest information with respect to Ontario Airport wanting to break away from LAWA and be independent?

Nancy Castles: When Mayor Garcetti ran for mayor; one of his platforms was to really work with the city of Ontario and the Inland Empire communities to turn over control of Ontario International Airport back to a local authority. The Ontario community proceeded to create the Ontario International Airport Authority. They have subsequently hired an executive director and top level staff to transition that airport back to local control. We have negotiated a price for Ontario International Airport because LAWA has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into their terminals, operations, and maintenance of that facility. We are on track for a November 1 official transfer of Ontario International Airport to local control through the Ontario International Authority.

RG: The sports world is constantly hearing about big dollars being paid for naming rights to stadiums and arenas from across the NFL, MLB, and NBA. How likely is it that some company in the near future may come to LAWA and try to purchase naming rights for LAX?

NC: I would say that it would be unlikely for many, many years! And the reason I say that is because most airports including LAWA's three airports are public agencies. As a public entity, its very difficult to have a private organization attempt to come in and try to brand it. Also; with LAX, there have been many attempts to name the airport after celebrities and other famous people. But in our case; LAX was one of the first 30 airports in the U.S., hence the “x”-which is actually a place filler. So if you come across an airport that has “x” in its code; that means that particular facility was among the first in the U.S. In addition, The term LAX has such a huge brand by itself (its all over the world). We haven't found anything yet that would signify the fact that you are coming to Los Angeles better than the three letter international code that we currently have. LAX in fact is so popular that you have a lot of entities trying to commandeer the code LAX. In many cases we have to issue cease and desist orders to individuals and companies alike who have tried to use the letters for their own self interests.

RG: What are some of the more positive, exciting events that have occurred here at LAX under your watch?

NC: I would have to say the arrival of the space shuttle Endeavor. That was incredibly historic not just for LAX but for the entire region. And to consider that it went through our local streets was incredible! When it arrived, I was on the adjacent taxiway and that was a sight to see! We have had quite a few historic moments here at LAX such as the landing of the Airbus A-380, the largest super jumbo commercial passenger jet in the world. I had the pleasure and good fortune of flying on what they call a “flight seeing trip”. The airlines invited media; certain staff, workers, and operations people to take a flight to experience the plane. So we left LAX on a flight to San Francisco; saw the Golden Gate Bridge, turned right around, and came back over Catalina and landed back at LAX. The seats are very comfortable and the plane is very quiet. The newer planes are also a lot more friendly to the environment than the previous aircraft form both a noise and pollution standpoint.

RG: Speaking of the next door neighbors, how are things looking right now in terms of relations between LAX and Westchester?

NC: The F.A.A. or Federal Aviation Administration currently has a public comment period that will end in October. We really want communities to look at their plans for what they call the Southern California Metroplex system and its new procedures that the FAA will implement in November. We feel that there will be areas that will hear less aircraft noise, and some that will soon hear more aircraft noise. The new procedures via the FAA are coming through their next generation GPS (or global positioning satellite technology) to make the landings and arrivals of flights more fuel efficient; and the flights easier to manage and control from an air traffic controllers point of view. They are planning to consolidate routs via the new Metropolis procedures which will have the pilots consolidating the wider area they are now flying, and narrow it down to a smaller flight path. So those people who are under those particular areas of that flight path who have heard noise before will more than likely hear more noise, while others will now probably hear less. It's a very important issue; and that's why we are encouraging all of the communities both around LAX and as far east as Monterrey Park and Alhambra, and north of us like Culver City and Santa Monica to take a look at what the FAA plans on implementing. These communities need to make their voices heard during the public comment period which is still open right now. You can go to: http://www.metroplexenvironmen...for more information.

RG: Metro seems to be connecting just about everywhere in the greater L.A. area now, with trains connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica now. Can we expect Metro to eventually serve LAX directly?

NC: LAWA has launched our LAX Lamp program, or Landside Access Modernization Program. We are currently in the environmental impact studies, and have just released our draft or EIR on Lamp. The public comments is open through October. You can find the entire draft EIR on our website called connectinglax.com

RG: What are some of the key components to LAMP?

NC: So there are five major components to Lamp Program. The first is going to be an automated people mover that will run for two and a quarter mile. It will come from the center of the central terminal area; come down 96th street, and go to two transportation facilities which will have parking, a meet and greet area, and public transportation providers droping off and picking up passengers. There will be a stop at the Metro off Aviation and Century Blvd, with the last stop being at a consolidated rental car center where more than 20 rental car agencies will be in one location. The key component of the people mover is that it will connect to the Metro Light Rail station with its own LAX stop or connection on the new Crenshaw-LAX line. Needless to say; we are looking forward to that because it's going to bring LAX into the 21st century in terms of transportation to and from the airport. We really hope that when it becomes operational Angelinos use it to get to and from the airport.

RG: From a dollars and cents standpoint, just how much is going into all of these projects at or around LAX?

NC: A 14 billion dollar LAX capitol modernization program is underway and has been for some time. There are 25 to 30 individual major projects that were or is still in progress. The new Tom Bradley International Terminal was 1.9 billion dollars alone. We are going to be breaking ground later this year on what we call a midfield satellite concourse which will be out on the airfield and will have at least 12 new gates and will be another terminal; so basically another concourse with concessions and boarding gates which we hope to have done in the early 2020's. Currently there is 14 billion dollars that we are investing in, and five and a half of that will be on this new Access Modernization Program. The airlines themselves have invested close to 2 billion dollars in this project. Delta has already announced plans to take over terminals two and three, and will be responsible for relocating all of those existing airlines into terminals five and six.

RG: How did the VIP/Celebrity Lounge come about, and what state is that in?

NC: With regards to the lounge, it's really a lease. A very well known international security firm proposed on an empty facility that we have on the airfield. We had the lease out there and we asked for proposals. This company made the proposal to take what is basically a hanger and convert it into a celebrity or VIP where they will have security in place to protect their clients. That same security firm will also be responsible for making arrangements if they can with the TSA and with the Customs and Border Protection in order to process their clients. You can go to: http://www.latimes.com/local/l...to get a tad more information on it.