FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - LAX Terminal Construction and Landside Access Modernization Program
Old Jul 23, 2022 | 6:41 pm
  #137  
BillBurn
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Originally Posted by TWA884
Are there any plans to relocate the American Airlines hangar? It blocks several gates at the southwestern end of the existing West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal concourse.
Not currently. Under the original MSC South plan, the MSC North would have been extended directly to the south and the concourse would have been basically a mirror, although slightly shorter, of MSC North. That plan required American to relocate its high bay hanger (and LAWA to pay for the relocation).

Due to cost constraints, in 2019 LAWA scrapped the original plan and in its place decided on a much less expensive MSC South "plan B" which will keep costs down by only adding 8 Group III (B737 and A320) aircraft gates for domestic departures. Because the MSC North was built with the original plan in mind, the new MSC South concourse now has that awkward left hand turn before heading south precisely because it has to avoid the American high bay hanger area (which LAWA will no longer have to pay to move). The MSC South concourse will also be lower to the ground than the MSC North terminal because it will not need the separate "sterile" levels for International arrivals.

When LAWA originally announced this revised MSC South plan in 2019 it was widely described as a "temporary" solution with the idea that at some point in the future they would tear down the "temporary" concourse and replace it with a originally intended MSC North-like concourse. If that ever comes to pass, at that point they will tear down the American high-bay hanger. However with the progress on Terminal 9, which supposedly is going to get final approval sometime this year, it seems likely that the MSC South concourse will now be as permanent addition as any other concourse at LAX.

It will be interesting to see what airlines(s) actually end up using MSC South. Under the original plan, American was to temporarily relocate their EAAgles Nest Regional Jet operation to MSC South which would in turn free up the space for Terminal 9 to begin construction. With MSC South now scheduled for Q2 2025 completion (a 9 month schedule slip since last Sept) and Terminal 9 construction potentially starting next year, it would seem like American will have to find another home for their regional jet operation (and it won't be in terminal 4 because that will be under construction until 2026). My guess is that Spirit may ultimately move to MSC South as it that would free up all of Terminal 5 for American and they could then re-gate the east side of terminal 5 to support their regional jets with maybe only the loss of 1 or 2 effective gates.
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