Airline to invest $1.5 billion at LAX
American is the latest major carrier making plans to upgrade its terminals there.
The world’s largest airline has announced plans for a big investment in Los Angeles International Airport — the latest commitment by a major carrier to help upgrade the crowded facility.
American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said Friday that his airline plans to spend more than $1.5 billion to upgrade the airline’s terminals at LAX airport over the next 10 years.
“This investment will not only improve the customer experience, but it will also give our team members a better place to work every day,” Parker said.
The announcement comes only a month after Delta Air Lines announced that it is spending $1.9 billion over the next four years to enhance its two terminals at LAX.
The investments make sense, considering that demand for air travel has remained strong nationwide and Los Angeles has become a vital entry point for travelers from Asia and Latin America. LAX also is hugely popular with business travelers and the entertainment industry.
But such investments are not exactly a gift to the airport. In the past, most of the investments made by airlines to upgrade LAX terminals have been reimbursed to the carriers in the form of cuts to fees and charges the airlines must pay to operate at the airport, according to airline officials.
Airlines pay for building rentals, fuel, land rentals and permits, among other things. In the current airport budget, such fees generated about two-thirds of all revenue to LAX.
The deal to refund American Airlines for its investment has yet to be spelled out or approved by the Board of Airport Commissioners, airport officials said.
Biometrics to ID passengers tested
One day in the near future, your face or your fingers will be all the identification you need to board a plane.
The airline industry has begun testing the idea of using biometrics — facial recognition, retinal scans and fingerprints — to identify fliers as a way to boost security and make life easier for travelers.
JetBlue Airways announced that it will begin to use facial recognition technology this month to verify the identity of passengers boarding flights between Boston’s Logan International Airport and Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba.
Last week, Delta Air Lines began letting members of its loyalty reward program use their fingerprints as ID to enter the Delta Sky Club at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. If the test program goes well, the Atlanta-based airline says it plans to use fingerprints to let passengers check a bag or board a flight.
This is not the first time that biometrics has been tested in the airline industry.
In 2014, Seattle-based Alaska Airlines began to use fingerprint scans to screen fliers at the airline’s six airport lounges, including one at Los Angeles International Airport. The following year, the airline launched a pilot program to use fingerprints to identify passengers who were boarding f lights at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Under the JetBlue program, customers step in front of a camera that matches their image with passport or visa photos in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection database. A screen above the camera will notify fliers when they are clear to board the plane.
Travel experts say such tests will help move the industry toward a time when fingerprints, facial recognition technology and other biometrics will replace boarding passes, passports and driver’s licenses as identification at airports.
“We’re rapidly moving toward a day when your fingerprint, iris or face will become the only ID you’ll need for any number of transactions throughout a given day,” Delta Chief Operating Officer Gil West said.
An airline reward program for pets
Where might your dog want to go for a vacation?
Korean Air last month launched Skypets, a loyalty program that may be the first in the industry to let pets earn rewards toward discounts or free flights.
Under the program, members of Korean Air’s loyalty reward program can sign up their pets to earn “stamps.” For every domestic flight the pet has flown within Korea, the animal gets one stamp. An animal can get two stamps for international flights, including flights from the U.S. Twelve stamps can be used to pay for all the pet fees charged on a domestic flight in Korea, while 24 stamp gets a free international flight.
JetBlue Airways and Virgin Atlantic also operate loyalty reward programs that give their members points for flying with pets, but those points can’t be redeemed toward free flights for the critter.
Like all other reward programs, Skypets has its restrictions: It applies only to dogs, cats and birds. Also, the stamps that are accumulated expire if not used within three years.