LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS WELCOMES TWO NEW EXECUTIVES TO THE TEAM

03/02/2022 02:00 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2022

CONTACT:
LAX Public Relations
(424) 646-5260

LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS WELCOMES TWO NEW EXECUTIVES TO THE TEAM

Appointments Fill Roles for Chief Human Capital and Equity Officer, Deputy Executive Director for Public Safety & Security
LosAngelesWorldAirports
LosAngelesWorldAirports
Louis Gutierrez (left) will serve as the Chief Human Capital and Equity Officer at Los Angeles World Airports. Martin Elam will serve as Deputy Executive Director, Public Safety & Security.

(Los Angeles, CA) Today, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Justin Erbacci announced two new executive appointments. Mr. Louis Gutierrez will serve as the Chief Human Capital and Equity Officer and Mr. Martin Elam will serve as Deputy Executive Director, Public Safety & Security.

 

“As Los Angeles World Airports continues on its transformational journey, the additions of Louis Gutierrez and Martin Elam will help us recruit and retain world-class talent, ensure that jobs and contract awards at LAX and VNY are more representative of Los Angeles demographics and keep safety and security as our first priority," said Justin Erbacci, CEO, LAWA. “Both of these executives bring decades of deep experience and insight to these roles, which will help deliver on our promise to provide gold-standard service to the traveling public."

 

Mr. Louis Gutierrez is an accomplished executive and attorney who has served in senior human resources, legal, and other administrative roles for a diverse group of prominent organizations such as Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, Time Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting, The Port of Long Beach, and AltaMed Health Services. In his new role, he will oversee all aspects of LAWA Human Capital functions, as well as all LAWA diversity, equity and inclusivity programs and initiatives. Mr. Gutierrez previously served as special advisor for employee relations at the University of Southern California. He has spent more than 20 years leading human capital and organizational effectiveness initiatives creating organizations with high employee performance and engagement levels. He also has served as an advisor and coach to business leaders across multiple industries. Mr. Gutierrez has successfully managed multiple business functions including employee compensation, employee benefits including retirement plans, human resources information systems, talent acquisition, employee learning and development, performance management, workforce planning including emerging talent pipelines, succession planning, labor relations, human resources legal, and diversity and inclusion. Mr. Gutierrez is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. He begins his new position at LAWA on March 3.

 

Mr. Elam is an accomplished homeland security executive with more than 20 years of experience leading personnel and operations in highly complex environments. In his new position at LAWA, he will oversee all local, state and federal law-enforcement partnerships, Intelligence analysis, threat assessments, the LAWA badging office and other critical safety and security initiatives. Mr. Elam will work collaboratively with the Chief of Airport Police, with both reporting into the LAWA CEO. Prior to joining LAWA, Mr. Elam was a member of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Security Executive Service for the last decade, most recently serving as an Executive Director for Domestic Aviation Operations at TSA Headquarters in Virginia, where he provided leadership, direction and support for approximately one third of the nation’s airports, including 25 Federal Security Directors. He has provided executive leadership of transportation security operations in major cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. He previously served with the TSA at LAX as the Deputy Federal Security Director. Mr. Elam is a graduate of several executive education programs including University of Virginia’s Darden Business School, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Tel Aviv University’s Homeland Security Studies Program, and the Federal Executive Institute. His first day with LAWA will be March 14.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

LAX, the third-busiest airport in the world and second busiest in the United States in 2019, is in the midst of a $14.5-billion capital improvement program that will touch on all nine passenger terminals and build new facilities, including an Automated People Mover (APM) train, Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility and a 12- to 15-gate Bradley West Gates addition to the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

 

In 2019, LAX served nearly 88.1 million passengers and offered an average of 700 daily nonstop flights to 113 destinations in the U.S. and 1,200 weekly nonstop flights to 91 markets in 46 countries on 72 commercial airlines.

 

LAX generates 620,600 jobs in Southern California, with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion, according to an economic study based on 2014 operations. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion; $966 million in state and local taxes; and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

 

LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

 

LAWA is leading the aviation industry in sustainability practices, with initiatives related to water management, energy (electricity) management, air quality, recycling and natural resources management. In 2019, LAX received Level III ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation from Airport Councils International-Europe.

 

LAWA is also a leader in inclusivity, operating eight programs that provide opportunities for business enterprises including local, small, minority-owned, veteran-owned and disadvantaged firms, and working together with community partners to offer the HireLAX Apprenticeship Readiness Program, which targets local workers to make them ready for rewarding careers in the construction trades, and the Build LAX Academy, designed to prepare small contracting businesses for success when working on projects at LAX.

 

LAX was named a top-10 U.S. airport by SKYTRAX in 2018, and was honored as the “Most Innovative Airport for Passenger Experience” in 2019 by the American Association of Airport Executives. LAX is the second-most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram, according to wego.com. Other recent honors have included selection as the No. 9 Best Airport (Wall Street Journal); No. 7 Best On-Time Performance for a Mega-Hub Airport (OAG); one of “The World’s Best Airports for Business Travelers” (GlobeHunters); Public-Private Partnership of the Year (P3 Bulletin); Urth Caffe, Best Airport Coffee Concession of the Year (Global FAB Awards); Innovation of the Year, Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ARTBA); Best Project, United Airlines Terminal 7 and 8 Redevelopment Program (Engineering News Record California); North American Public-Private Partnership Deal of the Year (IJ Global); and Innovative Transportation Solution of the Year, Automated People Mover (WTS LA).

 

As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities.  Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.

 

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