LAX Bars May Go Smoke-Free

Although officials at San Francisco International Airport have declined to ban smoking in bars, their counterparts in Los Angeles are on the verge of doing just that--a move that would make the bars at Los Angeles International Airport the first in the city to go smoke-free.

The Los Angeles Airport Commission voted unanimously May 3 to ask the City Council to eliminate smoking in all indoor areas of LAX, except one lounge for international travelers. The council is expected to adopt the proposed ordinance.

The problem, LAX officials say, is the same as in San Francisco: An ordinance restricting smoking, adopted last year, has jammed the airport bars and lounges with smokers, who now have nowhere else to go.

Airport spokeswoman Cora Fossett said: "It was causing a safety hazard, the crowding. Not to mention it was keeping nonsmokers who just wanted to get a drink from getting there."