Welcoming the A380

This morning, I joined the mayor, my colleauges, local aviation leaders, airplane afficionados (who surrounded the airport with cameras) and a classful of local schoolchildren to welcome the world's largest aircraft, the Airbus A380 to Los Angeles International Airport.

As promised, the A380 had an amazingly quiet landing (I captured my colleague and westside councilmember Bill Rosendahl as it landed).

While much remains to be done before we see if the A380 is a hit in the aircraft industry, it had all the makings of a star. As you will recall, I posted about the A380 last year, as the country which manufacturers the most parts for the plane is the United States, and many Southland aerospace companies are able to maintain and expand high-paying jobs because of the A380. The A380 has a better environmental footprint than its peers as well.

Kudos to all who made this day possible, including Janice Hahn, the chair of the Trade, Commerce, and Tourism Committee of the City Council, who helped shepherd its arrival with the mayor, Councilmember Rosendahl, and the Airport Commission. We have a lot of work to do to make the airport ready for a high volume of these planes, but the airport is already prepared for the first ones to arrive at Tom Bradley International Terminal starting next year.