I’m always rather embarrassed by the general state that US airline terminals are in. Seriously, look at our major airports – Los Angeles, New York, Washington, etc. – they’re just sad.
Earlier this year the new Tom Bradley International Terminal opened up, so rather than hanging around the OneWorld first class lounge for an extra hour I decided to roam the terminal. My gosh, it’s one hell of a gorgeous terminal, and something to be proud of. Not only is it architecturally stunning, but it has tons of high end retail shops and a pretty decent food court.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
The central part of the terminal has high ceilings with really cool wall designs like an “underwater” façade and “flower” tiles.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
There’s even a totally kick ass departures board listing all the destinations.
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal food court
Tom Bradley International Terminal
Tom Bradley International Terminal
And fortunately the airplanes departing the terminal match the sexiness of the terminal itself. I saw the Air France A380 I’d be taking to Paris, which was parked at gate 148, which is closest to the central part of the terminal.
Tom Bradley International Terminal Air France departure gate
Tom Bradley International Terminal Air France departure gate
Tom Bradley International Terminal Air France A380
Tom Bradley International Terminal Air France A380
In addition to being refueled and catered, there was a camera crew down on the tarmac filming. Anyone know what they were filming for?
Tom Bradley International Terminal Air France A380
Next to that was an Emirates A380, which is even cooler since they just started A380 service to Los Angeles a week prior. Parked next to that was a Lufthansa 747-8.
Tom Bradley International Terminal Emirates A380
Tom Bradley International Terminal Emirates A380
Since I figured I might as well roam around I decided to go to the SkyTeam lounge, which is what Air France business class passengers use. The agent at the desk had a near look of horror on her face as I handed her my boarding pass, and said “sir, you won’t want to use this lounge, it’s a business class lounge. You’re in first class and will want to use the first class OneWorld lounge, it’s much nicer. Were you not escorted to the lounge?” I would have insisted I was fine with using the lounge, but noticed it was really full, so wouldn’t have made for good picture taking anyway.
While the Air France agent said she’d pick me up in the OneWorld lounge and escort me to the gate, since I was already roaming around and wanted to be the first aboard so I could snap pictures, I decided to head directly to the gate. I got there at roughly 3PM, right as boarding was started. The gate agent was extremely puzzled that a first class passenger was showing up without an escort, but after I insisted it was okay he let me aboard.
Anyway, the new Tom Bradley Terminal is possibly the nicest terminal in the US. And Air France ground services at Los Angeles Airport totally rock!
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