The consortium that builds the Los Angeles International Airport The new delayed and over-budget passenger transport has widened its dispute with the airport in a new lawsuit. It claims that Los Angeles World Airports, which operates the airport, caused critical delays related to electrical power, ignored rulings in favor of the builders by a neutral project technical expert and even intentionally allowed other contractors to “destroy” the work done by the consortium.
As described in a July 9 state court filing in Los Angeles, the consortium, called LINXS, accuses the agency and the city of Los Angeles of delaying the movement of SkyLink people along with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The accusations so pronounced are the latest in a long and controversial project system testing was supposed to end on June 30. Airport officials declined in a statement to comment on the pending litigation, saying they are still reviewing the new allegations, but said the airport and city remain committed to getting the system up and running.
The 2.25-mile elevated guideway, part of a major airport-wide renovation, has three stations inside the airport and three outside. It is intended to ease traffic congestion and facilitate access.
There was an original completion date of 2023 and a budget of $1.03 billion for the construction cost, with another $918 million financed by a private concessionaire.
By 2024, however, the airport had agreed to pay LINXS an additional $880 million. The recent World Cup soccer matches put a new spotlight on the controversial public-private partnership and LINXS design, construction, financing and operation concession. Its major construction partners include Fluor Corp. and Balfour Beatty.
The airport and the city were the first undersized power cables, LINXS claims. But the power cable upgrade led to new problems with utility metering cabinets that caused the project to lose power for 141 days. Although the independent technical expert, is known as the “neutral project” and intended to resolve disputes during the project—awarded the delay suit to the consortium, the airport refused to comply, the builders’ suit claims.
Another conflict occurred over a solar panel system that was supposed to supply electricity to the system. The consortium claims that airport officials also refused to comply with the neutral judgment in favor of the consortium.
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Also, in what could be its most incendiary claim, the new filing accuses officials of allowing other contractors to destroy the consortium’s finished work, further delaying the project’s completion.
The consortium charges that Los Angeles World Airports “intentionally blocking the developer’s ability to achieve construction completion and falsely blaming the developer for delays has an obvious motive: to deflect blame from itself in the public eye for an extended period of time. [that the people mover] The project has been delayed and is still being delayed.”
Officials at the airport operator declined to respond to the specific allegations.
“As we review the presentation, our focus remains unchanged” on “the successful and timely delivery of SkyLink” which will “transform the LA visitor experience for years to come.” said the operator in its statement. “Los Angeles World Airports remains fully committed to a collaborative and constructive path forward with LINXS” to begin passenger service “as soon as possible.”
