AIRPORT: LA council OKs talks but won’t ‘give it away’

http://www.pe.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20121010-airport-la-council-oks-talks-but-wont-give-it-away.ece


AIRPORT: LA council OKs talks but won’t ‘give it away’
Ontario gets an OK from the Los Angeles City Council to begin negotiating the purchase of the beleaguered airport

STAN LIM/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A view of the baggage claim on May 16, 2012 at Ontario International Airport.
BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL STAFF WRITER kpierceall@pe.com
Published: 10 October 2012 06:12 PM


Negotiations for the sale and control of Ontario International Airport got an official OK from Los Angeles council members Wednesday, Oct. 10, but only after some admonitions that the airport should not be allowed to compete with LAX.
One councilman suggested that, if Ontario is sold, the deal should include limits to keep the airport from taking business away from Los Angeles International Airport.
“How do we protect our interests?” Councilman Richard Alarcon said “Are we just going to take the cash and let them do whatever they want to with the airport?”
The number of travelers using Ontario airport has dropped 37 percent since 2007 when it had 7.2 million passengers. Ontario, which has led a years-long campaign to reclaim ownership of the airport, has accused the Los Angeles airport agency of neglecting the Inland airport in favor of LAX.
Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner told the Los Angeles council members that Alarcon’s statements confirmed his city’s suspicions that LA’s airport agency is interested in controlling Ontario in order to stifle competition.
“You made public what we have been suggesting for years,” Wapner said.
The Los Angeles council ultimately voted 12-2 in favor of opening negotiations to determine the airport’s value, and decide whether it should be sold to the Ontario International Airport Authority. The agency, a recently formed joint powers authority, is composed of officials from Ontario and San Bernardino County governments and two citizen members, one each from Riverside and Orange counties.
Alarcon said he fears that giving up Ontario airport would short change his city and open up LAX to a new competitor that would steal potential passengers or airlines.
“To just let Ontario do whatever it wants to do would be a sin,” Alarcon said.
LA Councilman Mitchell Englander emphasized that LAX has been and remains the city’s main airport priority, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
“LAX is really our prize here. It’s a jewel. It’s an economic engine,” he said. All other airports or issues managed by Los Angeles World Airports are secondary, Englander said.
LAWA owns and manages Ontario, LAX and Van Nuys airports.
Ontario originally offered $50 million in cash to go to Los Angeles’ general fund if Los Angeles agreed to dissolve the agreement between the two cities that made it the airport’s manager in 1967 and owner in 1985. The offer also included $75 million to pay off debt and reimbursing Los Angeles more than $100 million in airport fees over time.
LA City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, who recommended that the city negotiate to sell the Ontario airport, told council members that they shouldn’t expect any cash to come to the city’s general fund from a sale. FAA rules require revenue earned from an airport to stay with the airport, or in this case with LAWA, he said.
The vote Wednesday rejected the $50 million cash offer while authorizing negotiations to commence. Any proposed deal would have to come back to the full City Council for approval.
“We’re still way at the gate. I don’t want to see us give up anything,” Councilman Tom LaBonge said. He is chairman of the city’s Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which approved the motion to open negotiations before sending the matter to the full council.
LA Councilman Dennis Zine, who visited Ontario airport for the first time last year at the invitation of the city, was among the first on the council to suggest the city should seriously consider an offer for the airport.
On Wednesday he called the airport underutilized and distressed but emphasized that he doesn’t want to see Los Angeles give it away.
“I think it’s worth more than $50 million itself,” he said.
Zine asked Santana if he had visited the airport recently and what he thought of it. Santana replied that it had been his regional airport of choice for many years when he lived closer to Ontario.
“It’s certainly had more robust days, but it’s still an incredible asset for the city,” he said.



ddint even know la owned the airport...lol