LAEcccchs

The digusting restrooms at Los Angeles International Airport are just the beginning. The overall sad condition of LAX has kept the airport near the bottom of J.D. Powers and Assoc.'s annual airport survey. According to the L.A. Times, in 2004, travelers ranked LAX 19th out of 22 airports that serve 30 million or more people a year.

LAX is now trying to change that, the paper reports:

LAX's poor reputation with passengers has long bothered airport officials, who were reluctant to spend money to update the 77-year-old airport while lawmakers debated an $11-billion modernization proposal.

Now that the plan has been put aside, the city is eager to make cosmetic changes it hopes will make a big difference with travelers.

To start, officials plan to spend $6 million a year to update terminals, including refurbishing 18 of LAX's 180 restrooms a year. Work has already begun on a $2-million upgrade of Terminal 3, where cracked flooring has been replaced and holes in the walls patched.

Other changes in the works:

-- New signs in Terminals 1, 3, 6 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It will also replace rental car counters downstairs in Terminals 1 and 3 with seating for those picking up travelers.

-- $4.5 million to landscape areas near Sepulveda and Lincoln boulevards in Westchester and Sepulveda and Imperial Highway near El Segundo.

-- Valet parking for $10 an hour, or $38 a day, in a lot near Terminal 4.

-- Pushing the airport's "cellphone lot," where drivers can stop free while they wait for arriving passengers to call, rather than circle the airport.

-- A pilot program that will allow travelers to check bags at parking lots B and C. A private company will issue passengers a boarding pass and luggage tags and will transport baggage to the airlines.

-- Plastic pouches at security checkpoints that travelers can use for objects that tend to set off metal detectors.

-- A registered traveler program this fall that would allow those who pass a background check to bypass regular security lines.