Who was Tom Bradley, and why is LAX’s terminal named for him?
Learn who Tom Bradley was, why LAX’s international terminal bears his name, when it opened, and why it is also called Terminal B.
Tom Bradley was Los Angeles’s mayor from 1973 to 1993, the city’s first Black mayor and its longest-serving mayor. The real-world LAX international terminal was named for him when it opened in 1984, recognising his leadership during the airport’s expansion and his work to establish Los Angeles as a major Pacific Rim city.
Who was Tom Bradley?
Thomas J. Bradley was a former Los Angeles police officer, lawyer and city councillor who served five terms as mayor. Born in Texas in 1917, he moved to Los Angeles as a child, joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1940 and rose to lieutenant before entering politics.
Bradley won a City Council seat in 1963 and was elected mayor in 1973. His victory made him Los Angeles’s first Black mayor, elected through a broad multiracial coalition in a city that was then majority white.
During his 20 years in office, Los Angeles strengthened its commercial and cultural connections with countries around the Pacific, hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics and carried out major infrastructure projects. Bradley was a civic leader rather than a pilot, aircraft designer or airport founder.
Why did LAX name the international terminal after Tom Bradley?
The terminal’s name was a civic honour recognising Bradley’s role in Los Angeles’s development and international expansion. His administration supported the airport construction programme that gave LAX a purpose-built international passenger terminal ahead of the 1984 Olympics.
The choice also reflected Bradley’s promotion of Los Angeles as an international trade centre and a gateway between the United States, Asia and the wider Pacific region. The terminal became a physical expression of that policy: an international front door carrying the serving mayor’s name.
Bradley did not lend his initials to the airport code. The separate history of why LA became the three-letter code LAX dates back to the standardisation of airport identifiers.
When did the Tom Bradley International Terminal open?
The original Tom Bradley International Terminal opened on 11 June 1984, shortly before the Los Angeles Summer Olympics. It carried Bradley’s name from its opening rather than receiving it through a later renaming.
| Year | Development |
|---|---|
| 1984 | The original purpose-built international terminal opened and was named for Mayor Tom Bradley. |
| 2013 | The substantially rebuilt New Tom Bradley International Terminal opened with a new central hall and larger aircraft gates. |
| 2021 | The West Gates satellite concourse opened as an extension of the Bradley terminal complex. |
Although the buildings and concourses have changed considerably, the Tom Bradley name has remained attached to LAX’s principal international terminal.
Is the Tom Bradley International Terminal the same as Terminal B?
Yes. Tom Bradley International Terminal, TBIT and Terminal B refer to the same main terminal complex at LAX. The West Gates form a connected satellite concourse within that operation.
Not every international flight necessarily uses Terminal B. Some airlines check in, depart or arrive through other LAX terminals according to their operating arrangements, and gate assignments can change. Passengers should follow the terminal shown by their airline rather than assuming that every international service uses TBIT.
For operational orientation, our KLAX approach plates and airport charts show how the terminal area sits between LAX’s four parallel runways.
Why can the terminal look different in a flight simulator?
The version of Tom Bradley International Terminal shown in a simulator depends heavily on the scenery’s date. Older scenery may represent the pre-2013 terminal, while newer packages can include the rebuilt terminal and West Gates.
An AFCAD or airport-data update mainly changes parking positions, airline assignments and taxiway information; it does not necessarily replace the visible terminal model. Our older-simulator KLAX gate and taxiway layout is useful for understanding that distinction, but it should not be treated as a live source for present-day gate assignments.