Ontario International Airport Celebrates Milestone Anniversary

ONTARIO, CA — The Inland Empire busiest airport was being celebrated Monday. Five years ago to the day, city of Ontario and San Bernardino County leaders accepted ownership of Ontario International Airport after wrestling it away from Los Angeles.

The airport's journey will be the focus of a State of the Airport celebration Monday at the Ontario Convention Center, bringing together city and county leaders, industry executives, airline personnel and other ONT supporters.

According to supporters of local control, Ontario International Airport had languished for much of a decade before it became the focus of a campaign to shift control from its previous owner Los Angeles World Airports, the operator of Los Angeles International Airport, to local authorities.

By August 6, 2015, the parties had reached a history-making agreement and on November 1, 2016, transferred ownership of ONT from the City of Los Angeles to a joint authority of the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County.

The leaders proclaimed the airport would become a vital economic engine for the region and a safe and secure aviation gateway for millions of air travelers.

“We knew on that fateful day five years ago that the combination of first-rate facilities, operations know-how and broad local support positioned us well to develop Ontario International into a premier aviation gateway and deliver the air service and amenities that sophisticated air travelers demand,” said Alan D. Wapner, mayor pro tem of the city of Ontario and president of the Ontario International Airport Authority Board of Commissioners. “Our team of dedicated professionals transformed Ontario from an airport that had in essence been forgotten or worse disregarded into a thriving low-cost, international gateway for airlines, air passengers and freight shippers alike.”

Since taking control of ONT, the OIAA boasts it has increased the number of airlines operating at the airport by nearly 50 percent and almost doubled the number of nonstop destinations. Departures climbed from 403 to 460 per week while the number of passenger seats increased from 52,000 to 66,500, according to the board.

"In the five years since regaining local control of our operations, we’ve created teams to work with airline partners to increase routes. We’ve improved parking, added restaurants, improved infrastructure and maintenance and basically enhanced everything about the passenger experience, taking it all to a whole new level,” said Jim Bowman, an Ontario City Council member and OIAA Commissioner.

The past five years have also brought growth in ONT’s cargo operations, which now rank among in the top 10 in North America, according to the board.

Last November, Federal Express opened its new 251,000-square-foot operations center at the airport, and together with UPS, Amazon and other freight haulers processed more than 900,000 tons of incoming and outgoing cargo in 2020, according to the board.

“Our strategic logistics location in Southern California makes this area an international business hub,” said Ron Loveridge, vice president of the OIAA Board of Commissioners. “With localized control, a growing list of carriers and cargo partners, Ontario International Airport continues to increase its role as a premier passenger and logistics airport not only for California, but nationally and internationally as well.”

While the coronavirus pandemic reduced air travel by 90 percent or more at many airports, by September passenger volume was 97 percent of pre-pandemic levels with domestic travel almost fully recovered, according to the board.