Team LAWA,
Tonight, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, along with County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the mayors of Pasadena and Long Beach, and the LA County Department of Public Health, announced a “Safer at Home” order. Under this order, which goes into effect tonight, Thursday, March 19, at 11:59 pm, residents in the County of Los Angeles are required to stay inside their homes and away from people outside their immediate family — unless they are engaged in certain “essential activities.” Included in essential activities in this order are “airport operations, food supply, concessions, and construction.” This means that, as I shared earlier this week, personnel who perform critical functions that must be performed on-site should continue to come to work; all others should work from home and should adhere to our telecommute policies. The order will remain in effect until April 19, 2020, and may be extended. Therefore, the telecommuting directive I provided earlier this week will now be in place until April 19, 2020.
To be clear: If you are eligible to telecommute, you should telecommute. Please do not come to the office unless you have to because we need social distancing for those who must work on-site.
In addition to working from home, the order also applies to your personal time. This means that you and your family should remain at home to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. You are allowed to leave your home for specified reasons, including to make sure you have the necessities of life such as getting food and medical services and supplies. You also are allowed to go outside to take care of children, the elderly, or pets, go on a walk, and just get outside, as long as you do not congregate in a group and maintain at least six feet of distance between you and other people. If you are sick you should self-isolate, including, to the extent you can, from others you live with, and you should contact your healthcare professional. Under no circumstances should you come to work if you are sick.
For additional information, you can review:
- Mayor Garcetti’s order
- The LA County order
- Frequently Asked Questions about “Safer at Home”
- Governor Newsom’s statewide order
While we as individuals and as a community adapt to our current reality, we also continue to do the business of the airport. Today, our Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) met for the first time in its history via remote means, with only President Sean Burton, myself, the City Attorney and a BOAC staff member present in the Board room. All other Commissioners joined the meeting via video conference. President Burton shared a public statement regarding LAWA’s actions to combat the spread of COVID-19 and how we are preparing for the economic realities facing our industry. After President Burton’s statement in open session, the Commission went into closed session to discuss various negotiations surrounding the economic impacts facing LAWA, our partners, and the people who keep our airports running. In the coming weeks, we will have additional special meetings of BOAC to develop solutions for addressing these economic impacts. All BOAC meetings, until further notice, will be conducted remotely to comply with public health guidance regarding social distancing.
Finally, I want to share that the LAWA Employee Portal continues to be updated with new information. You can now find a new link with all the information you need for Telecommuting (LINK) as well as the COVID-19 page continuing to be updated with these messages and new information as we get it (LINK).
Thank you, as always, for your continued commitment to one another and to combat the spread of COVID-19, and your efforts to understand and comply with the new Safer at Home order. As Mayor Garcetti said tonight:
“We are all safer at home. Staying in our residences, being aggressive about hygiene, and practicing safe social distancing are the most effective ways to protect ourselves, the people we love, and everyone in our community. Each one of us is a first-responder in this crisis, and Angelenos understand that we have to make big sacrifices right now to save lives. This isn’t forever — and we’ll get through it together.”
Justin Erbacci
Interim CEO, LAWA