I still owe you another construction post, but that is yet to come. Today's post is about where we are right now as September ends and October begins.
At this point, while we have all four runways back in operation, there is still construction happening that impairs the movement of aircraft. As you can see in the opening diagram, a critical portion of Taxiway E is closed at the east end of the north complex. This closure is necessary to allow completion of the final portion of the new Taxiway S -- the intersection of Taxiway S and Taxiway E. This section of Taxiway E, which is between the intersections of D-8 and D-10, is the primary route for departing aircraft to get to Runway 24 Left. Losing the use of Taxiway E creates a choke point on Taxiway D adjacent to Terminals 2 and 3. While not insurmountable, there are extra complications to the operations in and out of all the north side terminals as well as routing departures to the runway:
- Now that Runway 24 Left is open, A380s are once again coming to the north side for departure. However, neither the A380 nor the B747-8 can use Taxiway D in this area. To get around the closure, these types must enter Ry24L at Taxiway U and taxi east on the runway until they exit at Taxiway R or Taxiway E-7, whereupon they continue via Taxiway E to the end of the runway. Of course, nobody else can land or depart Ry24L while this is happening. This also requires some care on the part of the Ground Controller, as there is very little space on Taxiway E east of Taxiway R, and the A380 or B747-8 will need room on Taxiway E in order to taxi clear of the runway. There is often a good bit of planning and coordination required between the Ground and Tower controllers to make this happen; in many cases the A380 or B747-8 waits while other aircraft go, but at some point the Ground controller may have to hold other aircraft back while the A380/B748 moves.
- As I mentioned, the closed portion of Taxiway E forces all traffic transiting the area to use Taxiway D. Besides the restrictions for A380s and B747-8s, another challenge is that this taxiway is also the space into which aircraft on the gates at the ends of Terminals 2 and 3 have to push. These eight gates are all used by Delta Airlines and occasionally by WestJet. Pushing an aircraft from one of these gates blocks the taxiway until the aircraft is ready to taxi, which is nominally around five minutes or so if there are no snags. Ground controllers are mitigating this somewhat by having the aircraft push over to Terminal One or the TBIT, or around the corner into the adjacent D-9 or D-8 alley. Quite often this also involves holding aircraft on their gate until there is a break in the line of taxiing aircraft, by which time there may be several aircraft that all get pushed at the same time into non-conflicting positions.
- In conjunction with holding aircraft on their gates until there is a convenient time and spot to push them, there is also the consideration that inbound aircraft need to be able to get right onto their gate, as there is no room for them to sit adjacent to their gate if the gate or ground crew are not ready. Thus many of the ground controllers will have inbound aircraft hold away from the terminal area until the pilots have received verification that there is a crew at the gate and it is ready for their arrival.
Last I heard, this closure will run through sometime in November. It would be really nice if we could have the taxiway back before the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, as well as before we have weather that requires us to go East traffic. So far the weather's been cooperating, and I hear LAWA is pleased with the progress that this contractor has been making, so here's hoping!
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This shot shows the closed portion of Taxiway E. The Southwest B737 MAX 8 is on RY24L
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A wider view of the closure to give some context, with Terminal 2 and the adjacent alleys marked
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Here we see an Emirates A380 turning onto RY24L from Taxiway U in order to back-taxi up the runway to get around the construction constriction, while a British Airways A380 is rolling out on Runway 24R
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The same Emirates A380 passing the intersection of future Taxiway S
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Here's a Korean A380 performing the same maneuver
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Now past the construction zone, the Korean A380 exits the runway at Taxiway R and rejoins Taxiway E to continue to the end of the runway. The Volaris Airbus has been waiting at the end of the runway, while the WestJet B737 has been waiting on Taxiway D so that there would be room for the A380 to exit onto Taxiway E
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A Philippines A330-300 about to touch down on RY24R. We've been seeing Philippines A330s this summer as well as their B777s; they previously had been bringing A350s, but these have been cut as Philippines struggles with finances. This photo is actually more recent than the one that follows; in this shot you can see some of the new concrete for Taxiway E
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This year, Hawaiian has started receiving their new 300-seat B787 Dreamliners. For a size comparison, the smaller aircraft is a 76-seat Embraer E-175 operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection. The Embraers have largely replaced the CRJs in the regional fleets at LAX. This photo is early in the Taxiway E closure, as most of the old concrete is still in place.
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