New LAX Terminal 1 Eases Holiday Traveling

LAX (CBSLA) — LAX says 5.8 million passengers are squeezing through the airport over the three-week holiday travel time through Jan. 7.

Need a stress reliever? Travel through Terminal 1.

"I am seeing a difference," said BillieJo Herberger.

LAX and Southwest teamed up on the huge renovation project.

They spent a half-billion dollars on it.

"Yeah, I think it's beautiful. I love it now," said Olivia Neidhardt.

Terminal 1 was redone and devoted exclusively to Southwest Airlines. Their passengers view it as a present to them.

"It looks nicer," said May-Ann Romena.

"The service is a lot faster," said Jasmine Durr.

"I like that it's wide. You have enough space to walk and you're not bumping into anybody," said Herberger.

It is more spacious. More high-tech.

"It's much easier to get through now," said Neidhardt.

Employees and passengers point to the kiosks as the key to greater efficiency.

"Yeah. There's a lot more machines," said Romena.

A Southwest employee said there are 40 of them.

"I definitely love the kiosks. The personal ones or where we do it ourselves. It definitely moves faster as far as dropping off bags and things like that," said Durr.

Terminal 1 also features a variety of drinking and dining options near the gates.

"The food is much easier to access. It's less crowded. There's more places to sit," said Neidhardt.

Gone are the long lines outside Terminal 1 that we used to see year-round. Good news for passengers. Horrible news for skycaps who depend on tips for taking care of baggage.

Passengers can handle that themselves with ease indoors now, leaving skycaps left out.

The renovations are not complete. The people who work in Terminal 1 say that they still have a little more expanding to do.