When Clifton Moore ran the Los Angeles airport system from 1968 to 1993, there wasn't much emphasis on dining and shopping for people waiting for their planes at LAX. About all they could get were the basics: a newspaper, a cup of coffee, cafeteria fare and a preflight libation.
The mantra was "We are an airport, not a shopping mall," and people on the staff were proud that Los Angeles International Airport had the least concession space of any major airport in the United States.
Not anymore. Although the room devoted to beverage, food and retail services at the nation's third-busiest airport remains comparatively small, LAX officials say they now want to offer the traveling public more than they ever have from concessions.
Los Angeles World Airports has launched an ambitious effort -- the first since 1995 -- to renovate the bars, fast-food outlets, restaurants, newsstands and shops inside eight terminals, which handled about 50.7 million passengers last year.
This month, the Board of Airport Commissioners requested bids for services at 42 sites in Terminals 4, 5, 7 and 8 as well as a commuter airline facility. Proposals are due in September.
Another round of bidding for Terminals 1, 3 and 6 is expected by year's end. Concessions at the Tom Bradley International Terminal will be addressed later during a planned expansion and modernization.
"We want more variety, more dining and beverage opportunities, and better-quality food and service," said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of the airport agency. "We need more cutting-edge, more contemporary and more L.A.-centric approaches."
The airport now has well-known brands such as Wolfgang Puck, Karl Strauss and California Pizza Kitchen, but those concessions, officials say, are almost 15 years old and need updating.
Airport officials also want to reduce their reliance on a handful of master concessionaires, such as HMS Host Corp., Delaware North Cos. and Hudson Group, which have been hired on long-term contracts to manage nearly all the beverage, food, retail services and bookstores at the airport.
Their idea is to break the umbrella contracts into individual packages for beverages, fast-food, casual dining, newsstands and shopping. Although large concessionaires can compete for those packages, officials say, the change in philosophy should create opportunities for smaller local businesses to bid on contracts, which could result in better quality, more variety and lower prices for travelers.
