airport distances

Walking & touring LAX Airport

Lounges, , ,

05_A walnut wall offers privacy, but lets light in, at the Delta ONE lounge at LAX.

I had the pleasure of being on site Wednesday when Delta Air Lines celebrated the completion of its $229 million refurbishment of Terminal 5 at Los Angeles International Airport with the opening of its first private check-in lounge, Delta ONE at LAX.

The lounge area of Delta One at LAX. - courtesy Delta

The lounge area of Delta One at LAX. – courtesy Delta

Look for more of these lounges to open in New York in early to mid-2016 and, after that, in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Minneapolis and international airports after that.

While at LAX, I also took the opportunity to test out my new distance wheel, which I’m using to figure out the longest distance a passenger might need to – or be able to – walk when making a connection at various airports.

Kudos to Nancy Castles, the public relations director at LAX, who was kind enough to lead me through the airport for this project. We figured out that it is a 1.2 mile trek from the southern-most gate at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) to United Airline’s Gate 88 in Terminal 8.

With Nancy Castles at LAX

Going the distance at airports

Airports, Getting around,

Sometimes that walk – more often, that dash – between gates for a connectintg flight feels like a mile. Or more.

But how long is that walk really? And what is the longest distance a passenger would have to walk to make a connection at a U.S. airport?

With the help of airport record keepers and my brand new collapsible distance wheel, I’m working on finding that out.

Wheel photo_edited

Want to help? Next time you’re at an airport and feel like getting some exercise, start your pedometer – or take out your collapsible distance wheel – and measure off the distance between the farthest gates in an airport.

No buses, no trams. Just walking. Let me know what you find out.