Terminal Annex Heliport

The heliport's closure was directly tied to the cessation of its sole operator, Los Angeles Airways (LAA). The airline's collapse was caused by a combination of factors: the termination of crucial U.S. government mail subsidies which made the operation financially viable, a sharp decline in public confidence and passenger numbers following two catastrophic crashes in 1968, and the resulting insurmountable economic failure.

The heliport is permanently closed and no longer exists in an operational capacity. The building it was on, the USPS Terminal Annex, remains a major, active mail processing and distribution center and is a historic landmark in Los Angeles. Satellite imagery of the building's roof shows that the helipad markings and landing infrastructure have been removed, and the space is now occupied by modern HVAC units and other rooftop equipment.

The Terminal Annex Heliport was a site of major historical importance in aviation. It served as the central hub for the world's first regularly scheduled helicopter mail service, which was launched by Los Angeles Airways on October 1, 1947. Located atop the main USPS mail sorting and distribution facility for the city, the heliport was a critical node in a network that connected Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with dozens of post offices across Southern California. This pioneering service used helicopters (initially Sikorsky S-51s) to bypass ground traffic, drastically speeding up mail delivery. LAA later expanded to carry passengers, making this heliport an early example of an urban air mobility 'vertiport'. It represented a futuristic vision of transportation for its time.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the Terminal Annex Heliport. Reopening is considered infeasible due to several factors: the physical removal of the helipad infrastructure, the historical status of the building, modern stringent FAA safety and noise regulations for rooftop operations in a dense urban environment, and the lack of a viable economic model similar to the mail subsidies that supported the original operation.