California State Senate Republican leader Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga has introduced a bill that would move control of LA/Ontario International (ONT) from the city of Los Angeles to a regional airport authority.
The move is an effort to reverse an unprecedented drop in passenger air travel in the Inland Empire. Sen. Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Ontario) has said she will be a co-author, as have Assemblymembers Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto), Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore), Brian Nestande (R-Palm Desert) and Norma Torres (D-Ontario) have signed on as co-authors, giving the bill bipartisan support.
The proposed authority would be tasked with marketing the airport to airlines and passengers, as well as lowering the facility’s costs, which are double the average for mid-sized U.S. airports.
“The decline in air travel has had a negative impact on the Inland Empire’s economy,” Dutton says. “Having the Ontario International Airport transferred to a local authority would give this region the opportunity to aggressively utilize this resource as efficiently as possible and create jobs.”
He noted a report by the city of Ontario that cited management inattention, overstaffing and high administrative costs that have led to a drop in passenger traffic of 33% in the past four years.
Ontario officials asked the city of Los Angeles, which operates the airport under a 44-year joint powers agreement, if it could take over the airport last year; LA has not responded.
“It’s urgent that we break the stalemate between the two cities and speed return of the region’s airport to local officials who can again make it affordable for airlines,” says Dutton, who has been a point person for Republicans in the State Senate on transportation issues. “Keeping the city of Los Angeles in control is a conflict of interest, as they’re seeking to restore passenger traffic at LAX at Ontario International’s expense.”
Aviation experts say ONT will continue to see a decline in passenger traffic over the next six months unless a management change is made.
Should it happen, the authority would immediately cut the airport’s $67M annual operating budget by streamlining operations and eliminating an $8.7M administrative fee that Los Angeles World Airports levies on airlines, Dutton says.
