L.A.-area airports see drop in passenger traffic in 2009
The nation’s economic downturn continued to pound the Los Angeles airport system in 2009, causing LAX to shed millions of passengers while the number at Ontario International Airport fell to a level not seen in two decades.
Figures released Tuesday by Los Angeles World Airports show that the passengers handled by LAX fell 5.5% from 59.8 million in 2008 to 56.5 million in 2009. At Ontario, which once set growth records, the volume dropped 9.6% to 4.9 million.
Meanwhile, Van Nuys Airport was knocked off its perch as the nation’s busiest general-aviation facility by Deer Valley Airport outside Phoenix, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
“While I would rather have seen a 5.5% increase in growth, we had expected to end the year worse off than we were,” said Gina Maria Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys.
Though some analysts contend airports could lose more passengers this year, Lindsey was encouraged that passenger volumes for December 2009 were 3.6% higher than in December 2008, including a 6% jump in international travelers.
For 2009, the number of international passengers at LAX dropped 9.5% from 16.7 million to 15.1 million, while domestic travelers fell about 4% to 41.4 million. The declines were greater than at international gateways in San Francisco, Miami and New York.
The drop in passengers comes at a time when Los Angeles World Airports has embarked on a multibillion-dollar effort to modernize the Tom Bradley International Terminal, nearby taxiways and the airport’s utility plant.
Because of the economy, international flights have declined, and orders for larger aircraft have been postponed or canceled, raising the prospect that the LAX improvements could be underutilized for years. Also, fewer flights could translate into lower airport revenue, which is used to help finance improvements.
Aviation analysts blame the declines on the worst recession since World War II and soaring fuel prices in 2008 that reduced demand for air travel and forced the nation’s airlines to dramatically cut service. The situation became acute at LAX, analysts say, because it is not a hub for any major airline.
“Primarily this is the economy,” said Jack Keady, an aviation consultant based in Marina del Rey. “But there is a problem with LAX. It is an origin and destination airport, which means many of the travelers live here. It is not a hub, where airlines can bring traffic into for connecting flights.”
Particularly hard hit by the recession has been Ontario International, where two decades of steady growth have been erased. The airport, which primarily serves the Inland Empire, suffered a 21.6% drop in passengers from 6.2 million in 2008 to 4.9 million in 2009. The volume of passengers at Ontario peaked at more than 7.2 million in 2005 and 2007.
Though some marketing efforts have been launched, Ontario city officials say that Los Angeles World Airports needs to lower fees and rents to attract and retain airlines, which have been leaving for the last two years.
Also showing the effects of the recession is Van Nuys Airport, where takeoffs and landings dropped from about 386,706 in 2008 to 351,233 last year. In contrast, Deer Valley eclipsed Van Nuys with 402,335 takeoffs and landings in 2009.
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