Summer Travel

Greetings!  As summer begins, so does the hectic summer travel season.  For me, navigating my way through airports will take a little longer, getting through security will take more patience and re-circulated air will be used by more people. 

Every year, it takes a little more energy for me to get jazzed up about heading to an airport, any airport for that matter.  The aviation industry has never completely recovered from 9/11 and now our current economic recession has delayed its recovery even more. With that said, I am extremely excited that Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal is finally being renovated.  There are two phases to this project, the first is the terminal modernization a $737 million project with a focus on making the terminal more customer service friendly.  The second phase it the $1.5billion West Terminal expansion.  It is considered to be the largest public works project in the history of the City of Los Angeles and it will create 4,000 construction related jobs over the course of the four-year project schedule. Too bad I don’t get to use that terminal! 

Being a former long-time Angeleno, LAX was my “home” airport.  Actually, I don’t mind the other terminals at LAX.  What I do mind is the cleanliness of the terminals.  I can’t stand the dirty bathrooms, dingy floors and trash on the waiting area seats.  Now that I use San Francisco International Airport and Mineta San Jose International Airport as my “home” airports, it’s so hard for me to go back and deal with the LAX standards.

In any event, good luck with your summer travels.  In case you haven’t made any plans yet, here’s a useful website with the top airports by categories (cleanest terminals, cleanest restrooms, etc.):

http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2010/cleanliness.htm

Bon voyage!  

Sherrill Uyeda