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Effort underway to transfer control of Ontario Airport
File photo: Travelers pass through L.A./ Ontario International Airport on the eve of Thanksgiving November 26, 2008 in Ontario, California.
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Effort underway to transfer control of Ontario Airport
Effort underway to transfer control of Ontario Airport
California State Senator Bob Dutton is leading a bipartisan effort to transfer control of Ontario International Airport. The Rancho Cucamonga Republican has introduced a bill that would give control of Ontario International to a regional airport authority.
Dutton says the state legislature must take action to save the airport from financial ruin.
Los Angeles World Airports controls Ontario International now. Critics have long complained that the oversight agency treats the Inland airport like a stepchild of LAX.
In a statement, Dutton says that allowing an L.A.-based agency to control both airports constitutes a conflict of interest. He adds that a local authority’s control would give the Inland region opportunities to aggressively promote and find new uses for the airport.
Passenger volume at Ontario has shrunk by close to 30 percent in recent years, driven in part by the economic downturn.
The proposed legislation would also make it possible for the Ontario airport to reduce airline facility fees. Several carriers have slashed service to Ontario in recent years because fees there tend to be twice the average for airports of similar size.
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