Ascending to a New Era

Ontario International Airport, still a homely country terminal recalling an earlier age in Southern California, has begun a $300-million building program that will give it two new terminals--and probably a third to be added later--and enough passengers and freight to make it possibly the state’s third-largest airport.

Even so, the airport will have to hustle to keep up with the headlong growth of its home counties in the Inland Empire and the growth of passenger and cargo demand throughout Southern California.

The region’s airports accommodate some 74 million passengers a year now and will have to handle twice that number within 20 years--hopefully with the aid of a new international airport in Orange County. Cargo traffic, now just over 2 million tons, is projected to increase to 6 million tons within 20 years.

This is not mere growth but historic transformation. Southern California, traditionally seen as the Western edge of a vast continent, is now a crossroads. An enormous flow of people and goods from around the Pacific Rim--including Mexico and other countries to the south--passes through the region.

To accommodate the influx, Southern California has embarked on $4.3 billion worth of airport, port and rail expansions, the nation’s largest capital construction program. The region is investing in its economic future.

More than 25% of the greater Los Angeles area’s $430-billion gross output of goods and services depends on international trade, reports a study for the University of California by economist Steven Erie and colleagues in San Diego and Los Angeles.

But there are no races without hurdles any more. The master plan for airport capacity into the next century faces regulatory and legal challenges as well as political opposition on many fronts.

Los Angeles International Airport, the region’s hub, will expand from 58 million passengers this year to 98 million passengers and roughly 4 million tons of cargo by 2015, says John Driscoll, executive director of the Los Angeles Department of Airports, which governs LAX, Ontario and Palmdale.

LAX, which will soon open public discussion of expansion plans, faces questions from neighboring communities concerned about street traffic. But its needs are not dramatic. The region’s largest airport can get by with an additional runway for flexibility in handling the masses of commuter flights it receives from other parts of Southern California.

However, for the region’s long-term growth, LAX will need burden-sharing from other areas, particularly Orange County. And that could present problems. Local residents are adamant that traffic not exceed 8.4 million passengers at John Wayne Airport, which is already at 85% of that.

And proposals for an international airport to be built at the site of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station face vociferous political opposition in southern Orange County. Years of wrangling and probable lawsuits lie ahead before an El Toro airport sees the first of an anticipated 12 million to 30 million passengers.

Meanwhile, Orange and San Diego counties send more than 100 commuter flights a day to LAX, compounding congestion there.

So times ahead will be both fractious and exciting. But as arguments flare, keep in mind that one way or another airport expansion will go forward. Accommodating traffic and trade is not an option for this region. It is basic business, projected to bring 700,000 new jobs in the next two decades.

Least troubled at the moment is Ontario’s expansion, which is hailed by surrounding communities and industries because it is so overdue. A terminal and parking lot built for 2 million passengers now accommodates 6.4 million annually and is strained.

While two passenger terminals are being built, to open in January 1999, Ontario executiveals plan to expand cargo operations for which the airport has room to grow.

And they have plenty of demand for expansion because San Bernardino and Riverside are the fastest-growing counties in the United States, now up to 3 million in population and adding more than 30,000 jobs a year.

The airport project recalls the original postwar boom. Superlatives abound, such as the report that because of Ontario, the Caterpillar construction equipment dealer in Riverside has seen a greater increase in business than any Cat dealer in history.

And plans for Ontario are expansive too. The current project will give the airport capacity for 10 million passengers by 2005, with cargo growing 15% a year, says airport manager Lloyd Klefstad.

But Driscoll sees Ontario ultimately growing to 18 million passengers, and handling traffic from Mexico. It already has a federal customs post.

But Ontario too has a big hurdle to clear. The California Air Resources Board has set a limit of 12 million passengers, or 125,000 flight operations per year, on the airport. Klefstad and Driscoll explain that modern aircraft burn fuel more cleanly than jets did when those restrictions were written and that they will negotiate with the air resources board.

So the airport will grow, although how big a role it eventually plays in the region’s transportation future remains to be seen.

There are lessons for other parts of the region in Ontario’s example. Its growth is being hailed by Inland Empire neighbors because their economies are growing and they recognize a need for a good airport.

Elsewhere, Southern Californians are balking at airport expansions, perhaps forgetting that growth and good jobs arise when there is infrastructure to support them.

Perhaps many people fail to recognize that Southern California never again will be just an edge of the country. Now and for a long time to come it’s the bustling crossroads of the global economy.

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Taking Off

Ontario Airport, which is expanding to handle increased traffic, is not the only regional airport expecting tremendous growth into the next millennium. A look at regional traffic now and projections through 2015, in millions:

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Airport Passengers Passengers Percentage in 1995 in 2015 increase Los Angeles Intl. 53.9 98 81.8% John Wayne 7.2 12 66.6 Ontario 6.4 18 181.3 Burbank 5.0 12 140.0 El Toro 0 12 to 30 NA* Total 72.5 152 to 170 109.4 to 134.2

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* Not applicable. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station will not have passengers unless it is converted to a commercial airport.

Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM / Los Angeles Times

Handling Growth

Increased passenger and cargo loads will present problems for most area airports. A look at some of the constraints on the airports as they try to plan for growth:

* Los Angeles International: Officials say that to gain capacity for projected traffic, they will need at least one additional runway. They also face problems with ground congestion and opposition from community groups.

* John Wayne: The airport is fast approaching its legal capacity of 8.4 million passengers. This limit, set by surrounding communities, is half the airport’s carrying capacity. It faces stiff community opposition to expansion.

* Ontario: There are air quality constraints to airport expansion in the Inland Empire. Airport officials will try to renegotiate the restrictions with the California Air Resources Board.

* Burbank: The City Council has rejected the Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Airport Authority’s plans to purchase about 130 acres of Lockheed Martin Corp. land to triple the size of the existing terminal, which FAA officials say is too close to the runway to meet current safety regulations.

* El Toro: There has been political opposition in southern Orange County to a voter-approved plan to transform the Marine Corps air station into a commercial airport in 1999.

Sources: John Driscoll, head of the Los Angeles Department of Airports; Southern California Assn. of Governments

Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM / Los Angeles Times