ONTARIO: The year ahead, 2012
Continued battles between Ontario and Los Angeles foreseen for the next year
Regaining control of L.A./Ontario International Airport will continue to be the No. 1 goal for city officials.
While officials remained elusive of their future plans, they were confident something would happen early in the new year.
"We will redouble our efforts with heightened urgency as we roll out a comprehensive program to achieve our objective," said councilman Alan Wapner, who is the city's liaison on the issue.
For several years, Ontario officials have lobbied for local control, claiming they would be able to convert the medium-hub facility into a competitive regional airport. Los Angeles World Airports operates ONT and Los Angeles International Airport.
ONT has lost a third of its ridership since 2007, when travel at ONT peaked at 7.2 million passengers. Only 3.7 million passengers had flown through the facility through October this year.
"It will become actively clear within the first quarter of the year what our intentions are, and at whatever costs it takes to take local control of the airport," said Councilman Jim Bowman, who sits on the city's subcommittee regarding ONT.
Bowman said the subcommittee is expected to meet with the city manager the first couple of weeks in January to discuss a number of aggressive strategy plans.
In the new year, ONT will serve 2.7 million fewer annual passengers than it did in 2007. Flight schedules for the first half of 2012 will be further reduced by
about 8 percent compared with the same period in 2011, Wapner said.
"This is not a trend that can be allowed to continue. With the ever growing support we are receiving from governments and agencies from California to Washington, D.C., we are confident we will prevail in our quest to take responsibility and be accountable for the success of the region's only truly unconstrained airport," Wapner said.
LAWA officials continue to cite external, economic factors plaguing the airline industry for ONT's plummet in passenger traffic.
LAWA has worked on redistributing traffic to ONT, but the current economic airlines conditions are preventing growth at ONT.
In the past year, city officials have made several attempts to gain control of ONT.
Earlier in the year, in what seemed as an effort to stir negotiations between the two agencies, which had become stagnate, officials got politicians to draft legislation that could transfer control.
Ontario officials have even threatened to sue LAWA but did not move forward with either action.
"We're ready with the gloves, and there's going to be a time to take off the gloves," Mayor Paul Leon said.
An updated economic analysis by the firm Oliver Wyman has found the decline in air service at ONT between 2007 and 2011 has meant a $495 million economic hit to the Inland Empire. The decline at ONT in the last four years has also meant a loss of 9,250 jobs to the region.
For years, both parties have pointed to different factors plaguing ONT.
Ontario and Los Angeles World Airports have disputed the cause for ONT's declining passenger figures between 2008 and 2011.
Ontario officials continue to point the finger to what they say is the mismanagement of the medium-hub facility.
Earlier this month, LAWA executive director Gina Marie Lindsey suggested that if there is no immediate economic recovery in sight, officials may want to consider closing a terminal at ONT. The move would save money in the face of rapidly declining passenger traffic, Lindsey told the Board of Airport Commissioners.
If the city were able to gain control of the facility, Ontario would be able to use city resources to reduce operating costs and eliminate the $9 million administrative fee tagged on by LAWA.
The demise of ONT can only be averted by ONT being returned to local control, and immediate steps taken to lower the cost of doing business at ONT, Wapner said.
Bowman added, "We're ready to fight this thing and we intend to win."
About this blog
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| Liset Márquez has covered the city of Ontario for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 2008. She started the OntarioNow blog in August 2008. To contact Liset, leave a comment on this blog or send an e-mail to Liset Marquez |
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