Pilots cite separation anxiety over LAX runways

Pilots cite separation anxiety over LAX runways Commercial pilots told Los Angeles International Airport commissioners this week that the airport's two parallel northern runways need even further separation to safely accommodate a new generation of jumbo jetliners.
   The two runways are 770 feet apart, but members of the Air Line Pilots Association told airport commissioners Monday that the runways should be even farther apart than the 1,040 feet of separation recommended in reports last week.
   The pilots group recommended moving the most northern runway 370 to 443 feet further north to provide greater separation for new jets and more room for planes as they taxi.
   The Airbus A-380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft, is set to begin regular service at LAX in 2008.
   Airport commissioners admitted they have yet to come up with a plan to fix the northern runway problem.
   LAX, one of the nation's busiest passenger and air cargo centers, wrapped up a $250 million renovation project of the two parallel southern runways in April. The nine-month project relocated the 11,000-foot-long, 200-foot-wide southern-most runway 55 feet to the south in an effort to reduce the number of runway incursions, or aircraft “near misses” at LAX.
   Serving more than 60 million passengers a year as well as being one of the busiest air cargo centers in the nation, LAX has experienced several dozen incursions over the past several years, one of the highest rates of any airport in the nation.
   Experts have said that the narrow space between the two parallel main runways on the southern side of the airport is a main contributor to the problem. The new layout will allow the construction of longer taxiways between the two southern runways that provide a space for the planes to wait before moving to the terminal facilities.
   Two weeks ago, the airport received a $29.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to improve the taxiways between the airport's two now-further-apart southern runways. Scheduled to be completed in June 2008, the new taxiway will run parallel between the two southern runways and give plane more maneuvering room on the ground.
   The new configuration is also expected to cut plane idling time on the tarmac and allow for accommodation of the newest generation of super-sized passenger planes such as the Airbus A380, which visited LAX for the first time last month.