Diverting Airport Traffic

“Orange County Solves Its Airport Problem--Air Travelers, Newport Beach and Neighbors All in Agreement”

For the county Board of Supervisors and critics of John Wayne Airport, reading a headline like that would have been a wonderful way to start 1985. Maybe one of these years, but not this year.

Instead, the headlines last Thursday, the third day of the new year, read: “ ‘Fly Ontario’ Proposal OKd by Orange County.” Another approach, though not a new one. Another stopgap measure. And another controversy, it seems.

Promoting the use of Ontario International Airport, 39 miles northeast of John Wayne, to ease the congestion at John Wayne was first seriously proposed about 11 years ago. But the idea didn’t catch on. About five years ago, Supervisor Thomas Riley resurrected the approach with the suggestion to start a shuttle bus service from Orange County to Ontario Airport. The idea even attracted the interest of the Los Angeles Department of Airports, which operates Ontario as well as Los Angeles International. Los Angeles was so interested in encouraging more use of Ontario and in diverting some of Orange County’s passengers from Los Angeles International that it offered to pay half the operating deficit if Orange County would start the shuttle. Orange County declined when a private company started a shuttle, but there was not enough business to keep it going.

And now Orange County once again is promoting the Ontario Airport, this time with an advertising program that could cost up to $348,000. The goal is to lure more of the estimated 400,000 residents in communities such as Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Placentia and Yorba Linda to Ontario instead of to John Wayne.

This new effort, however, does not sit as well with Ontario Airport officials, who, instead of thinking of helping to pay some of its costs, have hinted that they are thinking of suing to stop the plan. Their main concern now is not attracting more passengers, although there is plenty of room for more, but rather not losing too much of their unused capacity to help meet Orange County’s needs and then not having enough later to serve residents of their own area.

We can understand their concern, but if there ever was a problem that must be considered on a regional basis rather than a parochial one, it is air transportation.

Orange County is not so much exporting its problem as encouraging residents who, as a practical matter, might find it more convenient to use Ontario.

The Ontario Airport does offer more flights to more places, and often at lower fares. And its terminal is geared to handle more passengers than the overcrowded one at John Wayne.

One major question, however, is: Considering past failures to persuade large numbers of Orange County residents to use Ontario, will enough of them now begin doing so to make a significant difference, and therefore justify the expense of the new effort?

Another key question is: How much of the advertising campaign costs are business interests that could profit from the increased use of Ontario willing to underwrite?

We suspect the use of Ontario by Orange County residents will grow steadily, but slowly. How much that use will increase, however, will depend on traffic congestion on the freeways and surface streets to John Wayne--and even more on what Orange County supervisors do to improve facilities and service at the airfield itself.

In any case, greater use of Ontario is only an interim solution. Aviation experts agree that even if every airport in Southern California were developed to its full potential, they would still fall short of meeting passenger demands by the end of the century and that another major airport somewhere in the area will be needed. It is all right for Orange County to encourage the use of Ontario as long as Ontario has unused capacity. But Orange County also has the responsibility to continue to improve John Wayne and, with neighboring counties, to decide once and for all where a new regional airport will be located.