I’ll actually be writing about this in more detail Monday, but for those are particularly interested in the issue of Ontario taking back control of its airport (with surrounding communities)…
What city of Ontario must do to keep ONT in the air – AirTalk
I was on one of my favorite local talk radio shows to discuss the issue with host Larry Mantle and Brian Sumers.
Ontario airport settlement with LAWA avoids lengthy, costly litigation – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
I also spoke with the local Ontario newspaper to talk about why this was happening now.
8 comments on “Cranky on the Web – Ontario Takes Its Airport Back From LAWA”
This should have happen years ago. Ontario is not some tiny town wtih an airport, it’s a populated metro area in another county. Let the county/city/metro area control their own airport along with it’s biggest tenants like UPS. LA would never do anything to better/grow ONT since they would be afraid it would take away from LAX and only held on to it to keep ONT from getting better.
Actually, it’s the opposite. Ontario handed over the airport to LAWA precisely because LA was more capable of attracting flights. For years, it worked well. Now, they want their airport back and pointed to a small dip in passenger numbers (which most mid-size airports experienced during the recession) as evidence of mismanagement.
ONT serves a metropolitan area slightly smaller than the Phoenix metropolitan area. Although there is always going to be some catchment loss to the other LA airports and maybe even Palm Springs, ONT still has a great deal of potential, especially as the San Bernardino Valley’s real estate market is beginning to recover. I think ONT having it’s fate controlled locally instead of by LAWA is a necessity at this point.
Cranky, good job on AirTalk Thursday. City of Ontario thinks running an airport is easy. Good luck with that.
There were plans afoot as recently as the 1970s to make ONT Southern California’s primary airport for transcontinental and international traffic. Many of the plans included the closure of LAX, not unlike Denver’s successful move to build DIA and close Stapleton and even more like Montreal’s unsuccessful efforts to shift all traffic from Dorval to Mirabel.
Yeah, those plans were pretty ridiculous. LA’s business and financial centers are in downtown and the westside, and that is where the major demand for business travel is generated. I think some clown had a plan to do something similar for Palmdale as well.
ONT was a great airport with decent planes and connection when the city ran it. CO had 3-4 flights to IAH, UA was running TED to DEN, DL had a 767 to ATL and NW had a non-stop to MSP. When LA took over, terminals emptied out, main line flights got replaced with regional jets and frequencies got cut. Coffee Bean and other restaurants closed. It got embarrassing, considering how much the Inland Empire region was growing at the same time.
I’m glad the city it taking over. I hope they bring the mainline flights back and add some Mexico and Hawaii flights too. Remember JetBlue flying to JFK? How about it UA? You can fill a 737 to EWR daily!
Ray – LAWA has been running Ontario since 1967.