Monday, October 31, 2011

California: After 30 Years Of Growth, Ontario Is Among The Nation’s Fastest-Declining Airports



ONTARIO (CBS) — After three decades of steady growth, LA/Ontario International Airport is now struggling to stay afloat.

Once on Forbes’ list of the nation’s top alternative airports, it is now among the fastest declining mid-size airports in country.

The airport lost almost a third of its 7.2 million passengers between 2007 and 2010, and according to the Los Angeles Times, is on track to lose another 200,000 by the end of this year.

Passengers have left as the number flights and destinations have dropped. Fares, in many cases, have also risen.

Some passengers say the cutbacks have been a huge inconvenience.

“I work for the University of California and I used to travel a lot to the Central Valley, and there was a small company flying from Ontario to Visalia and that flight doesn’t exist anymore,” Georgios Vidalakis told CBS2’s Kara Finnstrom.

Leaders in Ontario say the airport is struggling because it needs better advertising and strategic support. They are hoping to gain control of it from the city of Los Angeles, which operates Los Angeles World Airports.

Los Angeles International Airport, LA/Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys airport all function under LAWA.

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