New LAX head named
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has selected Gina Marie Lindsey, a veteran aviation industry insider with experience in modernizing airports, to head Los Angeles International Airport.
The mayor introduced Lindsey as the airport's new top executive at a press conference Thursday morning at LAX.
Lindsey, perhaps best know for guiding a controversial $4.1-billion expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, is an executive vice president at McBee Strategic Consulting in Washington, D.C. Her role in the Seattle-Tacoma expansion project was considered so pivotal that officials named a part of the new construction after her: the Gina Marie Lindsey International Arrivals Hall.
Prior to her position as Seattle-Tacoma airport's managing director, Lindsey served as director of aviation for Anchorage International Airport, where she managed the airport's transition from an international passenger refueling stop to an international cargo hub for Federal Express and United Parcel Service.
Prior to managing airports, Lindsey worked for the Alaska Department of Transportation on surface transportation issues. She has also served on the World Board of Directors for the Airports Council International and chaired the Airports Council International-North America in 2003.
LAX handles more “origin and destination” — non-connecting — passengers than any other airport in the world. It is the world’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and sixth-busiest by cargo traffic, serving some 60 million passengers and more than 2 million tons of freight in 2004. It is the busiest airport in the state of California, and the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the United States. In terms of international passengers, LAX is the second-busiest in the United States, behind only JFK International Airport in New York City.