LAX's SkyLink people mover builder LINXS filed suit against the City of Los Angeles on July 9, escalating a $115 million payment dispute that now threatens to derail the automated rail system's planned November opening.

The complaint, Los Angeles Superior Court case 26TRCV02456, follows LAWA's January 21 rejection of a government claim that LINXS had been required to file first. LAWA operates Los Angeles International Airport through Los Angeles World Airports.

What sits at the center of the dispute?

A metering cabinet on the guideway. According to the complaint, the cabinet was outside LINXS's contractual scope.

"LAWA has alleged that Developer procured the Metering Cabinets at issue from Pioneer Power Solutions and had them installed, but, in any event, the Metering Cabinets were not in Developer's contractual scope of Work," the lawsuit states.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) opened the locked cabinet in September 2024 to connect larger power cables. In January 2025, workers reported "moisture and debris" inside. LINXS blames that opening for the failure. LAWA cut power from February through July 2025 so LINXS could repair the cabinet, then refused a schedule extension and withheld the $115 million progress payment.

LINXS further alleges LAWA knew DWP caused the damage and concealed it. The two parties ran the dispute through a contractually required "project neutral," who sided with LINXS. That neutral has never once ruled in LAWA's favor in any dispute.

What other contractors figure in the case?

LINXS cites a safety incident on the guideway itself. "One of LAWA's Other Contractors, in the process of demolishing a glass lighting pylon, ejected shards of thick glass plate onto the guideway over which the People Mover vehicles travel," the complaint alleges. No workers were on the tracks, and no test vehicles were operating in the affected stretch.

LINXS also lists damaged irrigation lines, valves, planters, shrubs and trees on 96th Street caused by work unrelated to the people mover, and accuses those same contractors of drawing unallocated power from guideway circuits.

What is the drawing dispute?

LINXS claims LAWA altered roadway drawings submitted by a LINXS subcontractor and resubmitted them with elements deleted, to obtain permits for reduced-scope work.

"Developer is informed and believes, and based on that information and belief alleges, that LAWA was behind the resubmission of the [engineer's] roadway drawings, and the purpose was to obtain permits for a reduced scope of roadway work so that LAWA could attempt to declare (wrongfully) that Developer's work in certain areas is complete," the complaint reads.

The original engineer's seal and signature remained on the altered drawings, which LINXS characterizes as a criminal matter.

What administrative items are blocking completion?

LINXS identifies four holdups that have little to do with the guideway itself:

• A solar farm interconnection with DWP. Neither party will sign the customer paperwork.
• Completed irrigation work that LAWA has not asked DWP to activate.
• A cybersecurity plan LAWA claims dropped an intrusion detection system. LINXS denies any removal.
• A surveillance system test plan LAWA rejected. LINXS calls the rejection baseless.

On the cybersecurity plan, the lawsuit records that "LAWA complained that a word was missing at the end of a sentence that was unrelated to the substance of the [plan]."

What happens if the October 8 deadline is missed?

Project lenders can accelerate the debt if SkyLink is not substantially complete by October 8. LINXS warns that bankruptcy would expose LAWA to a roughly $900 million termination payment and force the airport to find a replacement operator. The contract spans decades of operations and maintenance, not only construction.

LINXS filed additional government claims on June 5. The city rejected them on July 7, starting a fresh six-month clock for further suits. With the November target opening weeks away, the next filing or settlement conference will determine whether LAX travelers ride the people mover or watch another round of pleadings.