Delta Air Lines, Los Angeles World Airports Invest $229 Million to Overhaul Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport

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Apr 04, 2013, 12:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has partnered with the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports to significantly overhaul Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport. The $229-million construction project has already begun and is scheduled to take place in several phases with full completion in 2015.

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Highlights of the project include doubling the size of the ticketing lobby and federal security screening checkpoints; an exclusive Sky Priority experience with a separate lobby and checkpoint; a private VIP check-in lobby that will provide the most elite experience available at LAX; a renovation of the Delta Sky Club to include full-service bar, new carpet, tile, and additional recharge stations for personal electronic devices; new baggage carousels; upgraded facilities to improve international baggage recheck; and new finishes providing a cleaner, brighter customer experience. In addition, 15 new restaurants and shops featuring celebrity chefs and retail brand names that reflect the cuisine, culture and lifestyle of Los Angeles will complete their phased openings this year.

"Los Angeles is a critical global gateway for Delta's domestic and international customers and we are thrilled this project – which will greatly improve the customer experience from curbside to planeside – is underway," said Ranjan Goswami, Delta's managing director – West Coast Sales. "But none of this would be possible without the great partnership and collaborative effort made by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey. Their leadership has truly paved the way for the improvements our Los Angeles-area customers are already starting to see and feel."

"As LAX undergoes a $4.1-billion modernization, we have made it a priority to improve domestic travel as well as updating our international terminal," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. "By overhauling Terminal 5 at LAX, Delta Air Lines helps us ensure that LAX becomes the premier gateway to Los Angeles and to the rest of the United States."

LAWA Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey said, "This is an important milestone in the continuing modernization of LAX. The partnership with Delta Air Lines is enabling significant improvement in customer service and convenience for both domestic and international travelers."

The project is funded using approximately $12 million of Delta Air Line's invested capital for proprietary improvements (airline lounge, check-in lobbies, finishes, other architectural elements, etc.); approximately $25 million in reimbursements from the Transportation Security Administration for security-screening measures; and the remainder in LAWA commercial paper/long-term debt, LAWA cash on hand, and Passenger Facility Charges collections. No funds from the City of Los Angeles' General Fund are being used. The project will support more than 200 construction-related jobs in Southern California.

Last month, Delta announced plans to increase service at LAX with daily year-round and seasonal service to 14 destinations, including eight new markets: Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; Bozeman, Montana; Nashville, Tennessee; Seattle; San Jose, California; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Spokane, Washington. The additional service adds 12 percent more daily seats in the market. This summer, Delta will operate 118 peak-day departures to 40 nonstop destinations, including Sydney and Tokyo, from Los Angeles. Delta operates transcontinental flights between Los Angeles and New York-JFK seven times daily. All Los Angeles domestic service offers customers the option of first class, Economy Comfort or economy seating, along with in-flight Wi-Fi.

Customers flying from Los Angeles also benefit from Delta's agreements with domestic partner Alaska Airlines and key international carriers, including WestJet and Virgin Australia, as well as Sky Team partners Air France-KLM, Alitalia, Korean Air, AeroMexico, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern and Aeroflot. Delta expects to begin codesharing on flights between Los Angeles and London-Heathrow airport with partner Virgin Atlantic Airways later this year.

Los Angeles International Airport
LAX is the sixth busiest airport in the world and third in the United States, offering 680 daily flights to 96 domestic cities and 930 weekly nonstop flights to 59 cities in 30 countries on 63 commercial air carriers. It ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed. In 2012, LAX served nearly 63.7 million passengers processed over 1.9 million tons of air cargo valued at nearly $89.6 billion, and handled 605,480 aircraft operations (landings and takeoffs). An economic impact study in 2011 reported that operations at LAX generated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County with labor income of $13.6 billion and economic output of more than $39.7 billion. This activity added $2.5 billion to local and state revenues. LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City's general fund. For more information about LAX, please visit www.lawa.aero/lax or follow us on Twitter @LAX_Official, on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport, and on YouTube at www.YouTube.com/laxairport1.

Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 313 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on www.delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, and www/Facebook.com/delta.