Glendora to Mull Support for Ontario Airport Transfer

Glendora may be added to the growing list of cities showing their support for the transfer of Ontario Aiport to local control.

Tonight’s City Council resolution aims to show solidarity with 11 other Southland cities, including Claremont, Monrovia, Walnut and Diamond Bar.

Ontario officials have , including an initial $50 million payment, to gain transfer control of transfer title and operations of the airport. Los Angeles World Airports operates Ontario Airport under a joint agreement signed in 1967.

“Under local control, ONT will simultaneously reduce its cost structure and increase its marketing, advertising and promotion spending to provide the airport capacity Southern California needs in the long term to protect its tourism economy,” officials wrote in the airport recovery plan.

According to Glendora's resolution, "Local control of ONT will help ensure that all of Southern California will have sufficient airport capacity to meet the long-term demand of air travel in the region."

Similar sized airports in Burbank, Orange County, Long Beach, and Palm Springs all are operated locally. Ontario officials have said local control would enable them to run the airport more cost effectively.

In the past four years, the Ontario Airport has lost more than a third of its passenger traffic, which has cost the Inland Empire region $500 million annually and 9,250 jobs, according to officials. The number of domestic and non-stop flights offered at the airport has dropped almost 57 percent since 2007. 

However, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and L.A. Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes Los Angeles International Airport, told a delegation of Inland Empire officials and business leaders the .

The Glendora City Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. in the .