Star Alliance Learns from London Heathrow Experience to Enhance Services in Los Angeles

Star Alliance is improving the customer experience at Los Angeles’ Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) through a combination of co-locating the member airlines in a single check-in zone in aisle “C” and the progressive introduction of more automation based on London Heathrow’s experience in Terminal 2.

As a prerequisite to providing these enhancements, check-in for all 10 Star Alliance member carriers operating out of TBIT has been consolidated in one singe aisle.

The check-in counters for Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, EVA Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, SWISS and Turkish Airlines are now all in aisle “C”, at the north end of the terminal. SAS will join the current 10 members in TBIT from 14 March 2016 when SAS begins services to Los Angeles from Stockholm.

The co-location not only allows customers to easily identify the location of the check-in desks, but also permits the member airlines to share counter space to even better match capacity to the actual demand.

A range of joint automated services is also progressively being made available by the TBIT based Star Alliance member carriers. Passengers are being encouraged to make use of the various mobile and web check-in options available. For those needing to print boarding passes at the airport, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has installed 24 common-use kiosks, which can print both boarding passes and luggage tags. In addition to the traditional full service check-in desks, fast bag-drop counters can also be made available for those who have opted to self-tag their bags.

To further support these improvements, LAWA will be opening a new North Security Checkpoint located at the end of Aisle “C” sometime in March.

With SAS set to begin services to Los Angeles from Stockholm from mid-March, the total number of Star Alliance airlines serving the airport will rise to 15. SAS will join the current 10 members in TBIT, Air Canada and Avianca are offering flights from Terminal 2, COPA from Terminal 6 and United from Terminals 7 and 8. Jointly they offer around 1,150 daily flights from the airport, connecting 79 cities in 24 countries.

The changes at TBIT are being implemented in close cooperation with LAWA and have to a large extent come from the experience Star Alliance made during the Terminal 2 project at London Heathrow Airport, where a completely new check-in concept was put into effect. All Star Alliance member airlines use the same check-in kiosks, make use of common bag-drop counters and even share Economy Class check-in desks. Using the success of the Terminal 2 project as a base, the Alliance is enhancing the customer experience at other airports around the globe, implementing various technological advances made in London.

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