3.2 million passengers expected at LAX over the holidays; still less than pre-covid

Travelers check-in at Southwest at LAX on Dec. 20.

Dec. 24, 2024 3 AM PT

As holiday travel picked up, tearful hugs goodbye, welcome parties and kids buzzing (and sometimes singing) with excitement were in full view at one of the world’s busiest airports.

So were crowds, long waits and traffic. Tis’ the season.

More than 3.2 million people are expected to make their way through Los Angeles International Airport during the holidays. While the number is slightly higher than last year’s count, it’s still not at pre-pandemic levels.

Still, the surge in activity has brought fresh stress for travelers.

Teresa Lai was determined to save her parents from a long trip through the 1 World Way horseshoe this year. Before leaving Minneapolis to visit them in Los Angeles, she researched how to get to the Metro from LAX to avoid a pick-up ride. Unsure of whether the information she found was correct, she and her husband eventually navigated their way to the shuttle and boarded for the train.

“Now that my parents are getting older, I think we’re going to take the [C] line more frequently,” Lai, 32, said about her plans to head towards Cerritos, especially in anticipation of the launch of the Automated People Mover train that will offer a direct connection to Metro.

The elevated train is expected to significantly decrease the amount of traffic at the airport by presenting alternative routes in and out. It will offer travelers a ride to and from the new rental car facility and parking lot and a more seamless drop-off experience at a ride-hail lot, which officials have said is likely to move from its current zone outside of Terminal 1 to the economy parking lot area. The current experience to hail an Uber, Lyft or taxi can be frustrating for travelers trying to locate the parking lot, especially with children or luggage.

For now, Lai and other travelers still have a wait ahead of the promised changes. The train won’t be completed until next December and will start running in January 2026, officials said.

The airport expected a peak of roughly 215,000 passengers each day this past weekend, and again on Dec. 27 and Dec. 30.

Rocio Arrieta sat in a Terminal 3 windowsill with her luggage during a multihour layover from Costa Rica to Australia.

“I’ve been traveling for more than 24 hours and this isn’t very comfortable,” she said, gesturing to her makeshift seat. “I would like to have a chair.”

Arrieta regularly travels during the holidays and always notices the uptick in crowds — she expects it.

“I’m accustomed to it. It’s part of the package,” she said.

One floor up near security, Edgar Menu was heading back to Salt Lake City after a winter soccer tournament.

Like Arrieta, he wasn’t deterred or surprised by the larger crowds.

“It’s 1,000% more crowded, but everybody has to be somewhere for Christmas,” Menu, 22, said. “California is probably extra busy this time of year because of the nice weather.”

One man who had returned to Los Angeles from Mexico on Monday said he waited nearly two hours to go through customs — far longer than he typically encounters.

“There were so many people,” said Eric Chen, 26. “This time, it was pretty bad.”

“The holidays at LAX are always a busy time for everyone at the airport, but we are prepared and well-equipped to manage the surge in passengers and the travel rush,” Doug Webster, chief operations and maintenance officer at Los Angeles World Airports, said in a statement.

LAWA officials expect that by the end of the year, roughly 78 million passengers will have traveled through the airport. That would be about 3 million more than last year’s count, which saw a 12% increase during the holiday season from the year before.

But the numbers are still lower than pre-pandemic levels — which saw more than 88 million in 2019 — and 2018 projections, which estimated that about 100 million passengers would pass through LAX in 2024. Officials said passenger forecasts for 2028 have also dipped from a once-expected 110.8 million passengers to roughly 90 million. And some months this year saw passenger counts drop by comparison to 2023, while other airports saw increases.

The numbers have prompted a reprioritization of some projects at the airport, which is undergoing a $30 billion overhaul to revamp and expand terminals and improve the traveler experience. Some terminal expansion plans will morph into infrastructure updates instead, such as plumbing repairs, as funds are redistributed.

While holiday travel at LAX hasn’t surpassed pre-pandemic numbers, overall travel in Southern California has. According to the AAA Automobile Club of Southern California, travel during the holidays by car, air and other forms such as bus and train is up 6.8% compared to 2019.

National numbers from the AAA projects that overall domestic travel will narrowly surpass the previous records set in 2019, with more than 119 million Americans traveling.

Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.