Airport Pact Points the Way

Blue Airways’ decision to make Long Beach Airport its West Coast hub is more than just a coup for city officials who’ve spent years trying to coax airlines to their underused airport. It’s a small but significant victory for anyone who wants to see the economic benefits (and community burdens) of air traffic spread more evenly across the region. And it’s a goad to Los Angeles to follow the example of its smaller neighbor and hustle up more business for its regional airports in Ontario and Palmdale.

Just about everyone agrees that a regional approach is needed if Southern California is to absorb an expected doubling of airline passengers by 2020. The sticking point has been how to achieve it. The airline industry tends to concentrate flights at Los Angeles International Airport. Los Angeles World Airports, the city department that runs LAX and other city-owned airports, says it can’t force the airlines to use Ontario International Airport--in the San Bernardino County city of Ontario but owned by the city of L.A.--or Palmdale Regional Airport. So LAX congestion grows ever more congested.

But if Long Beach can swing a deal with JetBlue Airways, surely Los Angeles can sell airlines on Ontario, if not distant Palmdale just yet. The potential for marketing Ontario not just to residents of the area but to visiting tourists is substantial. It is far less crowded than LAX and easier for passengers to use.

Next month, the Board of Airport Commissioners will consider how much money to allocate to marketing Ontario and Palmdale. It should be a serious amount, enough to get the attention of the public and the airlines.