The LAX People Mover is nearly $1B over budget. Now its contractor is suing the city

The contractor building the long-awaited LAX People Mover project has
filed a lawsuit alleging the city of L.A. breached its contract in
several disputes. 

In the suit, filed with the L.A. County Superior Court on July 9, LINXS
alleges the city is misplacing blame in construction-related disputes
and refusing to extend contract deadlines. LINXS also alleges it’s owed
additional payment for the work as a result of the delays. 

The project, a 2.25-mile-long elevated train designed to transport
riders between airport terminals and local transit, is currently
undergoing testing. Work on the train is scheduled to be complete “in a
few months,” according to a June interview with Los Angeles World
Airports CEO John Ackerman on the L.A. in a Minute podcast. 

Chief among the disputes detailed in the lawsuit is one involving
repairs to faulty electrical equipment in the system that powers the
train, resulting in testing delays last year. LAist reported on this
dispute last November and in April. 

A spokesperson for LINXS said it has attempted to engage in “extensive
good-faith efforts over the past two years” to resolve the ongoing
contractual disputes. 

Who is LINXS?
LINXS stands for LAX Integrated Express Solutions. It is the name of the
group that formed in 2018 to design, build and operate the LAX Automated
People Mover. It’s made up of four large engineering and construction
Dragados. 

A spokesperson for Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that
manages LAX, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
They added that the agency remains committed to “delivering a safe,
durable and reliable” train as soon as possible. 

The L.A. City Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests
for comment. 

In its lawsuit, LINXS said that by not granting the contractor’s
compensation and time-extension requests, the city is attempting to
evade accountability for the delayed train, which was once expected to
open in 2023 and is nearly a billion dollars over budget. 

The contractor warned in its lawsuit that without an extension of
contract deadlines, it might be forced to repay lenders who financed the
project as soon as this fall. In that case, the contractor said in its
lawsuit that it could become “insolvent and unable to perform,” adding
that possibility would have “catastrophic consequences.” 

Dispute over metering cabinet
Last February, staff from Los Angeles World Airports and the city’s
Department of Water and Power directed LINXS to repair equipment in a
metering cabinet that had degraded due to moisture and debris, as LAist
previously reported. 

LINXS completed the repair work, which required power to be partially
shut down between February and July 2025. That temporary power
disruption delayed critical testing of the technology that allows for
central control of the People Mover’s systems. 

LINXS said last year, and also in the current lawsuit, that the repair
work is not in its scope of work. As a result, the contractor has said
it's owed compensation and a minimum of a 141-day extension to complete
construction. 

“Since then, [Los Angeles World Airports] has stonewalled the
discussions of [LINXS’] compensation and a time extension,” the
contractor alleges in its lawsuit. 

LINXS, citing information it received from a public records request,
alleges the issue stemmed from an instance where LADWP opened the
metering cabinet in September 2024 to rectify design issues with the
equipment contained in it. 

Whereas past disputes between LINXS and the airport were resolved
through settlements that have so far totaled hundreds of millions of
dollars and resulted in schedule extensions, the dispute over
maintaining electrical equipment has been uniquely contentious. 

“Other relief events that we’ve dealt with up to this point … we could
agree there were some things that were not totally within LINXS’
control,” Jake Adams, an airport executive who is overseeing $5.5
billion in LAX upgrades, said in an interview with LAist in April. “This
relief event is very different. We believe there is absolutely no merit
to this claim.” 

The lawsuit also alleges that the contractor is owed additional time and
money for several other ongoing disputes, including that Los Angeles
World Airports is refusing to sign a power agreement with LADWP for
solar panels installed as part of the People Mover project and that
workers on separate airport projects have “demolished” work LINXS
completed for the train. 

What’s the status of the People Mover?
The People Mover is operating in a testing phase where it simulates how
the train will operate when it begins shuttling travelers between
airport terminals and the L.A. Metro system. 

The testing of the train won’t be impacted by the lawsuit, a
spokesperson for Los Angeles World Airports told LAist. 

A hearing on the case filed last week has been scheduled for December,
according to the L.A. County Superior Court’s website. 

https://laist.com/news/transportation/lax-people-mover-linxs-lawsuit