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The L.A. Weekly correctly calls it a "food fight," the battle for the hugely lucrative airport concession business. HMS Host has had most of that business since 1965, but its main competition, SSP America, was selected by the airport staff following a lengthy review. Host, which wound up dead last in the scoring, promptly protested the decision, saying that Los Angeles World Airports, the operating arm for LAX, wasn't playing by the rules because its people favored SSP.
Normally, the Airport Commission would have the final say, but because the board's president, Alan Rothenberg, has a connection to Host (he's on the board of California Pizza Kitchen, which is part of Host's bid), it's the City Council that will make the decision. And that's led to the predictable lobbying, with Council member Janice Hahn receiving $40,000 from the concession companies during her failed campaign for lieutenant governor, according to the Weekly.
I haven't the first clue which side would do a better job. SSP seems to have a more interesting selection of restaurateurs - Nancy Silverton, Joachim Splichal, and Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, among others - but Host claims that SSP's offerings will be too expensive for the traveling public. It has also insinuated that SSP's parent company is in financial trouble. (British-based SSP is privately held, so I'm not sure where they're getting their information from.) There's a lot at stake for the concession companies - something like $600 million - but I'm not sure it's that big a deal for everyone else. Passengers talk about wanting to have a better selection at the airport - that is, fewer greasy fast-food joints - but there's a reason why McDonald's and the others make so much money: Lots of people like that gunk, including those waiting for planes.
The real shame is that the City Council has been brought into the picture. The council, after all, does very few things well these days - and determining a bid of this size and complexity would appear to be well above its pay grade. The worst case scenario would be to acquiesce to Host's objections and force the airport to rebid the contract. That would mean delays of months, perhaps years. So I guess my vote is for SSP. Get some fresh blood into the operations, and maybe things will improve.
*Reader tells me that Interstate Host operated a cafe at the airport going back to when it was still called Los Angeles Municipal Airport.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.