In what feels like yet another major project in Los Angeles, LAX Terminal 5 will close within the week as part of a $1.7 billion renovation project.

The details on LAX Terminal 5

As everyone knows, there’s lots of construction going on at LAX as the city prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. The latest change to the airport will be the temporary closure of LAX Terminal 5 to completely demolish and rebuild. This is part of the airport’s planned changes to modernize the terminal.

The project is expected to complete in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony for the Olympic Games will start June 14, 2028.

Terminal 5 is only home to one lounge (the American Admirals Club), forcing consolidation in the Admirals Clubs in Terminal 4 or in the Eagles Nest (the cute name given to the small satellite terminal home to American Eagle flights). There’s also expected to be a temporary Admirals Club near Gate 153.

Perhaps as a consolation to the closure, eight new gates will open as part of the Midfield Satellite Concourse South. This is part of the international terminal (Tom Bradley, or TBIT). Officials for the airport made sure to note that this construction was on time and on budget.

The airlines impacted

Three airlines currently inhabit LAX Terminal 5: American, JetBlue, and Spirit. All will need to depart by October 28, 2025. They will all temporarily move to other terminals as follows:

• American Airlines will consolidate operations in Terminal 4
• JetBlue is moving to Terminal 1 to join Southwest
• Spirit is moving to Terminal 2 to join Delta and WestJet

Some American Airlines flights also depart from TBIT. It’s unclear if American will have some additional overflow to TBIT to help manage its gates. Given the Midfield Satellite Concourse South was tapped as an offset, we believe this will be the case. There is an airside walking path easily accessible between Terminal 4 and Tom Bradley.

It’s not clear if the underground walkway that connects TBIT with Terminals 4 through 8 will remain open. Our hunch is that it will not and that a shuttle will be necessary for international connections.

Is the timeline too aggressive?

I’d argue that the airport has been biting off more than it can chew, especially with the seemingly endless delays to its planned automated people mover. Let’s take a look at the timelines of two projects that will give insight into how this will go.

The complete remodeling of Terminal 3 is the project that immediately comes to mind. This one started in April 2019, fully closed in November 2020, and reopened April 2022. Depending on when you consider the true start time of this project, it took anywhere from 29 to 36 months to complete. However, that just counts the time until the gates were usable–concessions and seating weren’t added until October 2022.

The Midfield Satellite Concourse South project, which airport officials are using as the model for the Terminal 5 project, is the other. This one started in June 2023 with a completion date of October 2025. That’s about 29 months of construction start to finish. However, the thing to keep in mind is that no significant demolition needed to occur for the Midfield Satellite Concourse South project.

Optimistically, 29 months could mean the new Terminal 5 will open in April 2028. Their official timeline suggests May 2028.

Time will tell if the project will proceed as planned.

Are you ready for more construction at LAX?

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