LA/Ontario International Airport (IATA: ONT, ICAO: KONT, FAA LID: ONT), formerly and still commonly known as Ontario International Airport, is a public airport two miles east of downtown Ontario, a city in San Bernardino County, California, USA. It 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, 13.5% less than 2007.^[2] The April 2011 passenger volume was down 4.6% than the year previous.^[3]

In early 2011 Southwest Airlines carried 54% of the passengers.^[3]

History [edit]

• 1923: A landing field was established east of Central Avenue (three miles west of the current airport) on land leased from the Union Pacific Railroad. he airfield was named Latimer Field in honor of an orange-packing company next to the airstrip. An airport was built there by one of the first flying clubs in southern California, The Friends of Ontario Airport.
• 1929: The city of Ontario purchased 30 acres in the southwest corner of the present airport for $12,000 and established Ontario Municipal Airport.
• 1941: The city bought 470 acres (190 ha) around the airport and approved construction of new runways, which were completed by 1942, with funds from the Works Progress Administration. The 6,200' east/west runway and the 4,700' northeast/southwest runway cost $350,000.^[4]
• 27 February 1942: An Army Air Corps plane made the first landing.
• 1943: By now the airport was earmarked as an Army Air Corps P-38 training base and P-59 operating base.
• 1946 Ontario Municipal Airport was renamed "Ontario International Airport" because of transpacific cargo flights originating from the facility.
• About 1950: Western Airlines began scheduled passenger flights
• 1955: Bonanza Air Lines arrived but nonstop flights did not reach beyond Las Vegas. See [1] for airport diagram for 1955.
• 1962: Western began nonstop service to San Francisco (one Electra daily).
• 1966: See [2] for airport disgram for 1966.
• 1967: Bonanza began nonstop F27s to Phoenix. 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.
• 1968: Jets arrived.
• 1969: Continental Airlines started 720B nonstops to Denver and Chicago; Air California started 737s to San Jose; and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) initiated San Francisco service; Western began 737 nonstops to Sacramento and Salt Lake City.
• 1970: United Airlines started a nonstop to Chicago and American started Dallas (and Chicago, for a short time).
• October 1974: Ontario hosted the Concorde supersonic airliner making a promotional round-the-world flight.
• 1981: A 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 visible in the present-day taxiways. With the completion of the new east-to-west runway, existing Runway 25/7 became 26R/8L.
• 1985 the city of Los Angeles acquired Ontario International Airport outright from the city of Ontario.
• 1987: Runway 26R/8L was extended to the east to bring the two runway thresholds alongside, so aircraft would be higher over neighborhoods. This also made 26R/8L the main departing runway and 26L/8R the main arrival runway.
• 1998: The airport's new terminal designed by DMJM Aviation opened.^[5]
• 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 from/to Ontario.
• 2006: Ontario International Airport became LA/Ontario International Airport. The "LA" portion was added to remind fliers of Los Angeles and to avoid confusion with the province of Ontario in Canada.^[6]
• 2007: Southwest Airlines carried 49.38% of the airport's passengers. 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 for packages to and from Southern California. ExpressJet formerly had a hub at the airport.

Present-day operations [edit]

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 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 ExpressJet, which began service to 14 destinations in April 2007. This service ended on September 2, 2008.^[7]

Thanks to Ontario's long runways (runway 8L/26R is longer than any at LAX), it is often an alternate landing site for large aircraft destined LAX. Due to Ontario's small customs facilities and limited connecting flights, such flights typically do not disembark passengers at Ontario. The aircraft is refuelled and departs to LAX.

The airport is about 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 use the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10), Ontario Freeway (Interstate 15), or the Pomona Freeway (State Route 60). It is served by Omnitrans bus route 61 and by private shuttles.

By the end of 2006 Ontario International Airport was renamed LA/Ontario International Airport to entice travelers from the Los Angeles International Airport and 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 64 daily departures and arrivals.

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.^[8][9][10]

Noise restrictions [edit]

LA/Ontario has few noise restrictions/abatement rules unlike other Southern California airports such as John Wayne Airport, Bob Hope Airport, Long Beach Airport, and San Diego International 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 or 26R and take-off to the east on runway 8R or 8L depending on ATC instruction. 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 6:30 a.m. 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. As of 8/6/2012 the FAA has suspended all airports from doing the opposite end take-offs and landings. Because of this Ontario's 10pm to 7am operations now take off and land in the same direction.

Terminals [edit]

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. The old terminals will be demolished 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, Brackett Airport in La Verne, Cable Airport in Upland, or Rialto Municipal Airport.

Airlines and destinations [edit]

Traffic and statistics [edit]

Cargo operations [edit]

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. The Ontario hub processes inbound UPS Next Day Air and UPS 2nd Day Air packages destined for Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and Ventura counties. It provides outbound package delivery service from homes and businesses in the Inland Valley for delivery to destinations around the world. ONT serves as gateway for UPS' cargo flights to and from China. The Ontario facility sorts and distributes a majority of UPS international packages bound for delivery to the Pacific Rim. Four of the six direct weekly flights flown by UPS to China originate at the Ontario hub

Popular culture [edit]

• 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 1961, the exterior terminal building portrayed "Lincoln Airport" in the film Back Street starring Susan Hayward and John Gavin.
• In 1968 the airport was utilized for the film The Counterfeit Killer, starring Jack Lord and Shirley Knight.
• In 2001 the airport was utilized for the film Blow.
• The interior and exterior of Terminal 1 and the adjacent parking lot were used to portray a 1960s version of Miami International Airport in the 2002 motion picture Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
• The old Ontario terminals were used as an interior stand-in for Los Angeles International Airport on the 2004-2006 television series LAX.
• 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.

See also [edit]

• List of airports in the Inland Empire Metropolitan Area
• California World War II Army Airfields

References [edit]

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links [edit]

• 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 May 2, 2013
• 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