Everything in Transit

I've been flying in and out of Southern California since I was a toddler, to visit my aunt and uncle (and eventually, my cousins).

But we usually fly into and out of John Wayne Airport, located in Orange County (Newport, to be exact).

The airport is small and clean, and going through security can take fewer than five minutes. I will lament that the restaurants and food leave little to be desired (I ate a bland cup of oatmeal after my flight was delayed last week), but otherwise, the airport's always treated me well.

On the Monday morning following New Year's Day, my dad and I took my brother to LAX so he could fly back to school (they have an insanely short winter break at Michigan).

The experience led me to arrive at the following conclusion: LAX sucks. And I'm not the only one who feels this way!

I'm sure that security was heightened (and therefore an even more time-consuming experience) due to the recent Christmas Day plot, even more so because LAX is such a high-traffic airport.

They began the process upon entry, randomly pulling over vehicles and thoroughly searching them.

The crowd at the airport was insane. After checking in, passengers stood in the security line, which was broken up into three parts, the last of which was upstairs and out of sight for those (like me) who were waiting on the (crowded) sidelines.

Even walking to the bathroom was an arduous journey—people were everywhere.

My brother waited in the security line for over an hour and a half—and he got there before the crowd grew so huge, passengers lined up for a quarter of a mile on the sidewalk outside. Crazy.

And, as my brother told me, once people got through security, they were searched further, as airport employees would randomly select passengers and go through their carry-ons by hand.

I cannot fathom how they are unable to create a more efficient way for people to go through security. Sure, it's the major airport for Los Angeles, so it will be crowded—why do the crowds for security have to be overlapping those of the check-in stations? How the heck is anybody supposed to tell these lines apart, let alone navigate through them to enter or exit the airport?

In addition to atrocious wait times and endless security lines, LAX also offers overly disgruntled TSA workers (who do nothing to alleviate the chaotic nature of the airport), a generally unclean environment, and outdated terminals.

I generally love airports, but being at LAX was such an overwhelming and stressful experience—and I wasn't even the one flying—that I couldn't be anything but agitated.

It's apparent that when LAX was built, it was not done so with the intention that it would become as highly frequented as it is today. The airport is pretty poorly structured, both inside and out. There isn't enough space for the large crowds, and the proper terminals are not easy to locate when you're driving around in your car. LAX has a renovation planned; I believe it's scheduled to be finished some time in 2013, but that's still a long time away—and who knows how much those changes will even help?

In the meantime, I will (happily) stick to John Wayne. It's all the fun of an airport without the stress.