What is the current status of airside connections at LAX?

Question

I know that Terminals 4-8 have always been connected by tunnels, and a new bridge connecting the Tom Bradley International Terminal with Terminal 4 (and thus 5-8) at the airside was recently constructed. I also know that there are no physical airside connections among Terminals 1-3 and TBIT.

Recently, Delta Air Lines moved its operations from Terminal 5 to Terminals 2 and 3, and there is now a connection bus that operates between these two terminals. I also read some news that there may be a bus connecting Terminal 3 with TBIT, though I'm not sure.

• Is the airside bus between Terminals 2 and 3 fully airside, or does it require a security check?
• Is there an airside bus between Terminal 3 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal? If so, does it require a security check?
• Do any of these buses have restrictions on who can use it (e.g. does moving from TBIT to Terminal 3 require a Terminal 3 boarding pass)?
• What about Terminal 1? Does it have any sort of airside connections to the other terminals?

After doing some research, I found this: https://pro.delta.com/content/agency/us/en/news/news-archive/2017/may-2017/delta_s-relocation-to-lax-terminals-2-and-3-begins-evening-of-fr.html

Immediately following the move, Delta customers will enjoy:

• Faster and more convenient connections to flights operated by Delta’s joint venture and SkyTeam partners in Terminals 2, 3 and TBIT via an airside bus that prevents customers from having to leave and re-enter the secure area

Are these buses restricted to Delta passengers, or can other passengers use them? Do they allow passengers to go both ways, or can passengers only go one way on one or more of these shuttles?

Answer 1

For up-to-date news, the FlyerTalk thread concerning the terminal move and other aspects of flying Delta through LAX is pretty reliable.

As the One Mile at a Time blog points out, unfortunately, the "Sky Way" connecting Terminals 2 and 3 is not expected to open until at least 2023.

Before we move on, though, I regret to inform you of the biggest headache of all: there will not be a convenient airside connection between T2 and T3 for a while. That’s right: there will be airside shuttles, but if you land at T2 and have a connection at T3, you’ll need to allow yourself extra time to get between gates.

The shuttle bus is completely airside and no screening is involved; the map is posted on Delta's website. From T2 it departs from gate 22A 21, at T3 it uses at gate "35P" adjacent to gate 35, and at TBIT it arrives at the north bus gate.

The shuttle between T2 and T3 is supposed to run about every 6 minutes, and the ride time between the two is about ten minutes. The shuttle connecting TBIT to T2 and T3 is supposed to run about every 7 minutes, with a published journey time of 13 minutes. Delta is not the only airline using those terminals— part of the move was to make it easier to connect to partner airlines— and there is no requirement that you be a Delta passenger to use them once airside. That said, if the terminal or buses become very crowded, we cannot say that they wouldn't impose a check, to ensure that space on the bus is available for people who really do need to change terminals to catch a flight.

There is no airside connection to Terminal 1.