Los Angeles International Airport

The Los Angeles Airport Commission approved a one-year, $25-million contract Monday for a Florida aviation company to manage preparations for expansion and modernization plans at Los Angeles International Airport. DMJM Aviation Inc. will focus its initial efforts on planning for new gates west of Tom Bradley International Terminal to accommodate such super-jumbo jets as the Airbus A380.

The Supreme Court heard arguments in two war-on-terrorism cases Tuesday -- one that tests whether American civilians can seek the help of American courts if they are held in Iraq, and the other to determine whether the man who plotted to bomb Los Angeles International Airport will serve his full 22-year prison term. In both cases, the justices sounded as though they would rule on the side of the Bush administration. The first case, Munaf vs.

Domestic travel might be in a slump, but overseas flights are surging at Los Angeles International Airport. Foreign airlines are turning to LAX again despite crowded, aging terminals -- frequent-flier surveys often rank it among the nation's worst -- that have made it the bane of airlines and passengers. While U.S. carriers are cutting back amid a slowing economy and high fuel costs, international airlines are flocking to LAX as more overseas travelers look to take advantage of the weak dollar.

It's back to the drawing board to decide who will manage taxi service at Los Angeles International Airport: The airport agency's board of commissioners voted unanimously Monday to reject both finalists' contract bids, including that of the current taxi-oversight firm. Officials who oversee LAX decided instead to seek new proposals, a process that could take about six months, in the meantime leaving the job in the hands of the current operator, Authorized Taxicab Supervision.

Plans to expand and modernize Los Angeles International Airport advanced Friday when airport commissioners approved $80.9 million in contracts for engineering and architectural services. The board awarded three-year contracts of $41.5 million to Fentress Architects and $39.4 million to Hatch Mott MacDonald for engineering, planning and design work, bringing the total spent on consultants for the modernization program to $260 million during the last decade.

Los Angeles officials are questioning whether the top executive overseeing Los Angeles International Airport improperly influenced the hiring of an engineering firm to manage a $5- to $8-billion capital improvement program. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn said Monday that she wants to question airport executive director Gina Marie Lindsey about the awarding of a $25-million management contract in March to DMJM Aviation Inc. of Tampa, Fla., whose parent company is based in Los Angeles.

Efforts to determine whether two major contracts at Los Angeles International Airport were awarded improperly intensified Wednesday when a City Council member called for further inquiries and the city controller announced that she would review airport contracting procedures. Councilwoman Janice Hahn requested that the council review and take jurisdiction over a three-year, $41.5-million contract awarded Friday by the Airport Commission to Fentress Architects, based in Denver.

Los Angeles airports Director Gina Marie Lindsey, who is embroiled in a controversy over LAX contracting procedures, oversaw Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at a time when millions of dollars in aviation-related contracts were awarded in violation of policy and state law, according to a recent state government audit.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will travel to Israel next month for a weeklong mission devoted to security, counter-terrorism and green technologies, aides announced Tuesday. Villaraigosa will lead a delegation of city officials and about a dozen religious and business leaders June 11-18, his third overseas trip since taking office nearly three years ago.

An audit released Thursday found no indication that Los Angeles airports director Gina Marie Lindsey improperly influenced the awarding of two major contracts related to the modernization of LAX. The Los Angeles city controller's office concluded that airport staff followed correct procedures during the selection of DMJM Aviation Inc. of Florida and Denver-based Fentress Architects. The findings were similar to those of the City Council, which reviewed the contracts earlier this month.