Lax

A county report released Monday added fuel to the debate over whether the operator of Los Angeles International Airport is adequately trying to spread the growth of commercial flights to other airports in the area. Requested by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in February, the study reviewed the efforts of Los Angeles World Airports to regionalize air traffic, a key requirement of a 2006 court settlement that ended a legal challenge to modernization plans at LAX. "I'm somewhat disappointed.

Re "Official Offers Alternative LAX Proposal," April 15: The concerns of neighbors around LAX, who are suffering from airplane noise, overflights and passenger growth, require solutions that work. The only way to limit growth at LAX is to remove one of the runways and institute an ironclad passenger cap and curfew agreement with the victims, blessed by the Federal Aviation Administration and the courts. Donald Nyre Newport Beach

On March 14, you solicited suggestions for improving LAX ("How to Improve LAX? Readers Present Views"). The pedestrian overpass connecting the parking garage to Terminal 1 needs to be redesigned. The present facilities require people to either use narrow, steep steps or a very small elevator. HARRY L. LEPAPE Los Angeles

So airport officials have now decided that it is OK for private vehicles to drop off and pick up passengers at LAX ("LAX to Restore Private Vehicle Access," Dec. 14). Apparently, for the last three months, their thinking was that terrorists would not use taxis or limos to bring a bomb to LAX, only private vehicles. What changed? What were they thinking when they arrived at the initial knee-jerk reaction to ban private vehicles from LAX? It appears that this window-dressing measure that they instituted was aimed only at giving the impression they were doing something proactive.

I was glad to see "LAX-Downtown Rail Plan May Finally Be Leaving the Station," [Travel Insider, Jan. 30] and learn there's yet hope the trains will reach LAX before the next millennium. I seem to recall heavy lobbying against the Green Line going to LAX when it was built. And I couldn't believe city leaders allowed them to prevail, regardless of "marketing surveys." What a joke. It is nothing short of a scandal that you can't get to LAX by rail, just incredible as traffic gets worse and worse.

My reaction to Mayor Richard Riordan's endorsement of plans to expand Los Angeles International Airport is one of abject horror. As outlined in The Times (March 5), the mayor backs a proposal to increase passenger capacity from 60 million passengers a year to 100 million at a cost of about $10 billion. Please, Mr. Mayor, consider the effect on traffic. I work near the airport, commuting on the 405 Freeway from the Valley. Usually it takes me a long hour and 10 minutes to get home after work.

Regarding "How Safe Is LAX?" (April 22): When one airplane misses another by more than 25 football fields laid end to end lengthwise, I find it hard to call that a near miss. However, the Federal Aviation Administration calls such an occurrence one of the closest calls of 1989. Obviously, the skies over Los Angeles are very safe. I want to thank author Kathleen Burton for pointing out this fact. I have long contended that the most dangerous part of any commercial or general aviation flight is the drive in your car to the airport.

Re "Council members seek boost in tourism," Feb. 24 The Los Angeles Airport Commission has been feeding an elephant for so many years that it can barely fit in the room. The solution to the myriad problems of passenger traffic at LAX is simple: relocate cargo and maintenance to nearby airports such as Palmdale, Ontario and Long Beach. Most of the real estate at LAX is used for aircraft maintenance and cargo operations, while passengers are forced to use a small horseshoe called World Way. Until the commissioners realize this and reclaim land along Century Boulevard (which was where the main passenger terminal was located until the 1960s)

Re "Runways, not glitz," editorial, Nov. 22 When are we going to come to terms with the fact that the desires of the few cannot always trump the needs of the many -- in this case, those who bought homes next to an airport apparently only to discover later that airplanes are noisy? LAX is by no means unique. At a recent Keston Institute forum on the 2006 infrastructure bonds, the attendees learned that only 10% of the bonds approved had been spent. State officials noted that because of regulatory and permitting delays, many projects will not be underway for years; that is certainly not what the voters expected.

A father and son were arrested Thursday in connection with separate fraud schemes -- one of them a shakedown that targeted small businesses -- moments before boarding a Russia-bound plane. Viktor Ryzhkin, 45, and his son Evgenii Ryzhkin, 22, of Los Angeles were arrested as they prepared to board a plane to Moscow with two other family members at Los Angeles International Airport. The pair face federal fraud charges for separate alleged crimes, according to the U.S. attorney's office.