- Ontario International Airport
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This article is about an airport in California in the United States. For airports in Ontario, Canada, see List of airports in Canada.
LA/Ontario International Airport 
IATA: ONT – ICAO: KONT – FAA LID: ONT Summary Airport type Public Owner Los Angeles World Airports Serves Ontario, California / Inland Empire, California Location Ontario, California Hub for UPS Airlines Elevation AMSL 944 ft / 288 m Coordinates 34°03′22″N 117°36′04″W / 34.05611°N 117.60111°WCoordinates: 34°03′22″N 117°36′04″W / 34.05611°N 117.60111°W Website Map Location within the Los Angeles
ONTRunways Direction Length Surface ft m 8L/26R 12,197 3,718 Concrete 8R/26L 10,200 3,109 Concrete Statistics (2006, 2010) Aircraft operations (2006) 136,410 Based aircraft (2006) 25 Passengers (2010) 4,812,006 Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] LA/Ontario International Airport (IATA: ONT, ICAO: KONT, FAA LID: ONT), formerly Ontario International Airport, is a public airport located 2 NM (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) east[1] of the central business district (CBD) of Ontario, a city in San Bernardino County, California, USA. This airport is owned and operated by the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), an agency of the city of Los Angeles. In 2008, 6.2 million passengers used the airport, a decline of 13.5% compared to 2007.[2] The April 2011 passenger volume was down 4.6% than the year previous.[3]
In early 2011, Southwest Airlines was responsible for 54% of the passenger volume at the airport.[3]
Contents
History
The airport was originally built by one of the first flying clubs in southern California, The Friends of Ontario Airport, and dates back to 1923, when a landing field was established east of Central Avenue (three miles west of the current airport) on land leased from the Union Pacific Railroad. The airfield was named Latimer Field in honor of an orange-packing company located next to the airstrip. In 1929 the city of Ontario purchased a 30-acre (12 ha) tract in the southwest corner of the present airport for $12,000 and established Ontario Municipal Airport.
In 1941 the city purchased 470 acres (190 ha) surrounding the airport and approved construction of new runways, which were completed by 1942. On February 27, an Army Air Corps plane made the first landing. By 1943, during World War II, the airport was earmarked as an Army Air Corps P-38 training base and P-59 operating base.
In 1946, Ontario Municipal Airport was renamed "Ontario International Airport" because of transpacific cargo flights originating from the facility. Western Airlines began scheduled passenger flights about 1950, and Bonanza arrived in 1955, but nonstop flights did not reach beyond Las Vegas. In 1962 Western began a nonstop to San Francisco (one Electra daily) and Bonanza began nonstop F27s to Phoenix in 1967; jets arrived in 1968. In 1969 Continental started 720B nonstops to Denver and Chicago, Air California started 737s to San Jose, and PSA started San Francisco; Western began 737 nonstops to Sacramento and Salt Lake City. In 1970 United started a nonstop to Chicago and American started Dallas (and Chicago, for a short time).
In 1967, the city of Ontario and the city of Los Angeles entered into a joint powers agreement, making Ontario International Airport a part of the Los Angeles regional airports system. In 1974, Ontario was the only Riverside-San Bernardino Area airport to host the Concorde supersonic aircraft as it made its promotional around-the-world flights in October of that year.
In 1981, a new, second east-to-west runway, 26L/8R, was built, necessitating the removal of the old northeast-to-southwest runway, 4/22. Remnants of the former 4/22 runway are still visible in the present-day taxiways. With the completion of the new east-to-west runway, the existing Runway 25/7 was renamed to 26R/8L.
In 1985, the city of Los Angeles acquired Ontario International Airport outright from the city of Ontario.
In 1987, Runway 26R/8L was extended to the east so the runway's thresholds could be corresponding to runway 26L/8R thresholds in order for aircraft to fly higher over neighborhoods. This also made 26R/8L the main departing runway and 26L/8R the main arrival runway.
In 1998, the airport's new terminal complex opened.
In 2005-2006, Runway 26R/8L was repaved, received storm drains, strengthened, and improved runway lighting including centerline lights were added. Taxiways D, S, R, U, and W were widened, and better taxiways and runway outlines were also added. Aeroméxico started seasonal flights to Guadalajara and Mexico City, the only international flights to Ontario.
In 2006, Ontario International Airport became LA/Ontario International Airport. The "LA" portion was added to make Ontario Airport geographically relevant to Los Angeles and to avoid confusion with the province of Ontario in Canada.[4]
In 2007, Southwest Airlines who carried 49.38% of passengers. The other four airlines in the top five were United Airlines/United Express (8.64%), Delta Air Lines (7.93%), US Airways (7.08%), and American Airlines (6.18%).
UPS uses the airport as their gateway for packages to and from Southern California. Expressjet formerly operated a hub at the airport.
Present-day operations
Runway layout at ONT
The airport covers 1,700 acres (690 ha) and has two runways. It is the third major airport in the area after Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and John Wayne Airport (SNA). LA/Ontario International Airport is typically less crowded than LAX; according to Forbes.com it is one of the five best alternate airports in America. It is the West Coast air and truck hub for UPS and is a major distribution point for FedEx Express. LA/Ontario International Airport was a hub for the independent operations of ExpressJet Airlines, which began service to 14 destinations in April 2007. This service ended on September 2, 2008.[5]
Thanks to Ontario's long runways (runway 8L/26R is longer than any of those at LAX), it is often used as an alternate landing site for large aircraft when LAX is inaccessible due to weather conditions or other reasons. It is an important alternate airport, since many trans-Pacific flights headed to LAX may have insufficient fuel remaining to reach other major airports. Due to Ontario's relatively small customs facilities and limited options for connecting flights, such rerouted flights typically do not disembark passengers at Ontario. Instead, the airport is usually used to refuel the aircraft, which then depart for a short flight to LAX once landing conditions there have improved.
The airport is located approximately 38 miles (61 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, 18 miles (29 km) west of downtown San Bernardino and 14 miles (23 km) northwest of downtown Riverside. Motorists can either use the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10), Ontario Freeway (Interstate 15), or the Pomona Freeway (State Route 60) to access the airport. It is also served by Omnitrans bus route 61 and by private shuttles.
By the end of 2006 Ontario International Airport was renamed to LA/Ontario International Airport to entice travelers from the over-trafficked Los Angeles International Airport and also to reduce confusion with Ontario, Canada. LA/Ontario Airport is owned by the city of Los Angeles (LA World Airports) ONT currently has more than 70 daily departures and arrivals and has at least 13,000 passengers use the airport each day.
Ontario Airport which used to be one of the fastest-growing airports in the country has seen a dramatic decline of passenger. Passenger traffic at ONT has dropped more than 47.5 percent from about 7.2 million to 4.88 million amid the recession. Recovery at LA/Ontario is expected to be much slower than at other airports in the region. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, LA/Ontario's passenger levels will not reach 6 million again until 2030. JetBlue, ExpressJet, Great Lakes and Aeromexico which prior to restarting service in November 2010 had all left the airport due to the recession, high fuel prices, and mostly the mismanagement of LAWA which includes Los Angeles World Airports charging a 15 percent administrative fee which is passed down to the airlines and makes it the costliest airport in the region, LAWA slashing ontario airport marketing budget by 85% to spending only $400,000 for the current fiscal year, having a high airport workforce (302 people on the payroll), and the high cost per passenger enplanment that is $14.50 per passenger which is twice the average for mid-sized u.s airports. These cost make it difficult for airlines to make a profit at Ontario. For these reasons there is a coutinuing downward sprial contributing to reduced air service which in turn results in fewer choices of flights and reduced passenger volumes. The decline in air service at Ontario airport led to a $400 million blow to the Inland Empire's regional economy and the loss of more than 8,000 jobs while the few remaining air carriers continue to slash service and increased ticket fees as a way to support operations.
Ownership and control of the airport became an issue in late 2010 when the City of Ontario, supported by the Southern California Association of Governments, criticized and questioned LAWA's operation of the airport.[6][7][8]
Noise restrictions
LA/Ontario has few noise restrictions/abatement rules unlike other Southern California airports such as John Wayne Airport, Bob Hope Airport, and Long Beach Airport which all have very strict policies. The airport is allowed to operate 24/7, but during the hours of 10pm to 7am all aircraft must arrive from the east on runway 26L and take-off to the east on runway 8R. This procedure is known as "Contra-Flow" operations and applies to turbo-jet or turbo-fan aircraft. This procedure is similar to the one employed by Los Angeles International Airport(LAX) in which aircraft arrive from the west and depart to the west(known as "over-ocean" operations) between midnight and 6:30am. Both of these procedures are employed as long as weather and/or construction activity permits. This is done in an effort to be better neighbors and minimize the noise impact to the surrounding communities as much as possible.
Terminals
LA/Ontario International Airport has three terminals. The terminal numbering scheme is designed to accommodate future growth. The airport's master plan calls for five terminals to be spaced adjacent to and in between the existing Terminals 2 and 4. The "international terminal" (which is a small building designed primarily to segregate arriving international passengers to clear customs) would be razed and be part of the new Terminal 1. One terminal would be dedicated exclusively to Southwest Airlines and the other to United Airlines, while the other airlines would share the remaining terminals.
Terminal 2 has 265,000 square feet (24,600 m2) and 12 gates (201 - 212). Terminal 4 has 265,000 square feet (24,600 m2) and 14 gates (401 - 414). The International terminal has 2 gates.
The old Ontario Airport had two terminals: the main terminal and a small terminal for Delta Air Lines and SkyWest Airlines. The old terminals are west of the current terminals. The old control tower is still used as an auxiliary tower. The previous design was of the traditional walk-up type with only one jetway gate; the new terminals use the modern jetway system. The old terminals currently house the administration and the USO, and are used to film airport scenes in movies and television. They were used as an interior stand-in for the Los Angeles airport on the LAX TV series, and used for a key plot development on the fifth season of the series 24. The interior and exterior of Terminal 1 and the adjacent parking lot were used to portray a 1960s version of Miami International Airport in Catch Me If You Can. Other film productions utilizing the original airport buildings and locations include The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Back Street (1961), The Counterfeit Killer (1968), Blow (2001), and Zodiac (2007). The old terminals will be razed when the new Terminal 1 is constructed. Remote parking is located on the east end of the airport (moved from its former location at the west end). On the east end is a ground transportation center that consolidates the rental car companies in one central location. A circulator bus circles the airport and provides connections to each of the terminals, rental car and remote parking lots, and public transit stops.
General aviation is located at the south side of the airport, although most general aviation pilots tend to use a number of nearby airports: Redlands Airport, Chino Airport, Cable Airport in Upland, or Rialto Municipal Airport.
Airlines and destinations
Airlines Destinations Terminal Aeromexico Guadalajara 2 Alaska Airlines Seattle/Tacoma 2 Alaska Airlines operated by SkyWest Airlines Portland (OR) 2 American Airlines Dallas/Fort Worth 4 Continental Airlines Houston-Intercontinental 2 Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Salt Lake City 2 Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines Salt Lake City 2 Southwest Airlines Chicago-Midway, Denver, Las Vegas, Oakland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Jose (CA) 4 United Airlines Denver 2 United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines Denver, San Francisco 2 US Airways Phoenix 4 US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines Phoenix 4 Traffic and statistics
Busiest Domestic Routes from Ontario (May 2010-April 2011) [9] Rank Airport Passengers Carriers 1. 
Phoenix, Arizona400,000 Southwest, US Airways 2. 
Oakland, California254,000 Southwest 3. Sacramento, California233,000 Southwest 4. 
Las Vegas, Nevada215,000 Southwest 5. 
Denver, Colorado205,000 Great Lakes Airlines, Southwest, United 6. 
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas203,000 American 7 San Jose, California145,000 Southwest 8 Houston, Texas (IAH)144,000 Continental 9 
Seattle, Washington136,000 Alaska 10 
Salt Lake City, Utah88,000 Delta Cargo operations
The airport hosts four cargo airlines, UPS Airlines, FedEx Express, Ameriflight, and ABX Air. Ontario is a major southwestern gateway hub for UPS.Over 200 pilots are based at the ontario hub. LA/ONT is the United Parcel Service's (UPS) Western Region hub for both air and trucking operations within a 13-state region. In addition to serving intra-regional traffic, the hub links UPS's global hub in Louisville and serves as gateway for UPS' cargo flights to and from China.
Popular culture
- In 1946, an airplane "graveyard" located at the airport, containing surplus and retired aircraft from the recent war, was used for a memorable scene in the Samuel Goldwyn film The Best Years of Our Lives.
- In January 2006, LA/Ontario Airport was featured, by name, in Season 5 of the television drama series 24, in which terrorists took control of the airport (then known as Ontario Airport) and took several hostages.
- The airport and its original terminal building were featured in the final scenes of the 2007 film Zodiac.
- The airport has been used to represent several other airports in films and television
See also
- List of airports in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area
- California World War II Army Airfields
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- ^ a b FAA Airport Master Record for ONT (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-12-20
- ^ ONT passenger statistics for 2008
- ^ a b Parks, Mary (27 May 2011). "Traffic Drops at Ontario International Airport". NBC Los Angeles. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/business/Ontario-International-Airport-122737619.html. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Passenger growth at Ontario airport stagnant | Business | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
- ^ http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUKN0832534520080709?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
- ^ Locals Want to Run Ontario Airport, KNBC-TV
- ^ Ontario: L.A. should relinquish control of Ontario Airport, Daily Breeze
- ^ Regional support for Inland control of Ontario airport, The BizPress
- ^ "RITA | BTS | Transtats". Transtats.bts.gov. http://www.transtats.bts.gov/airports.asp?pn=1&Airport=ONT&Airport_Name=Ontario/San%20Bernardino,%20CA:%20La/Ontario%20International&carrier=FACTS. Retrieved July 11, 2011, 2011.
External links
- LA/Ontario International Airport (official site)
- LA/Ontario International Airport Master Plan
- Fly Ontario
- openNav: ONT / KONT charts
- Weikel, Dan. "As use dwindles, calls grow for local control of Ontario airport." Los Angeles Times. October 31, 2011.
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 20 October 2011
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KONT
- ASN accident history for ONT
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KONT
- FAA current ONT delay information
Airports Owned by the City of Los Angeles (Los Angeles World Airports) Los Angeles International Airport (IATA:LAX) · LA/Ontario International Airport (IATA:ONT) · LA/Palmdale Regional Airport (IATA:PMD) · Van Nuys Airport (IATA:VNY)
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- 1929 establishments in the United States
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