Learn the story and join the fun, as we launch a year-long celebration honoring our 10th anniversary of taking back local control of ONT.

Reclaimed. Revived. Ready.

Those three words are the theme of Ontario International Airport’s year-long campaign Celebrating a Decade of Local Control, which will highlight how we reclaimed ONT, revived the airport and are ensuring it’s ready for an even bolder decade ahead.

The celebration officially launches today, on ONT's ninth anniversary of returning to local ownership. We’ll spend the next year thanking everyone who’s supported ONT along the way as we offer community pop-up events, surprises in our terminals, special anniversary merchandise, a bold unveiling and more. It will all build up to ONT’s 10th anniversary of local control on November 1, 2026!

But you may be wondering, why wasn’t ONT locally controlled in the first place? How did we win the airport back? And why does it even matter?

Read on for answers to those questions, plus an exclusive first look at some of the fun ahead during our Decade of Local Control celebration!

From Growth to Stagnation

To understand why Ontario International Airport wasn't always under local control, let's take a quick trip back to the beginning.

ONT was born in 1923 as Latimer Field, a locally owned air strip located three miles west of the airport's current location. Six years later, the city of Ontario spent $12,000 to buy 30 acres of land in the southwest corner of the modern airport campus, christening the new site as Ontario Municipal Airport.

During World War Il, the Army Air Corps used the airport as a training and operating base. It was also renamed Ontario International Airport, since transpacific cargo flights started taking off from the airport.

A couple years after the war ended, ONT was turned back over to the city, which soon got a permit to start commercial air service and began working to expand the airport. The city built a new terminal, attracted airlines to start new routes and grew passenger numbers. But as local newspaper archives explain, by the 1960s, the main runway was in dire need of pricey repairs that the city at the time couldn’t afford alone. So in 1967, Ontario partnered with the City of Los Angeles to help run ONT. And in 1985, the city transferred full ownership to Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA, hoping the synergy would spur growth.

The new arrangement worked pretty well through the 1990s, when LAWA built the airport’s twin terminals and made other infrastructure improvements. But by the late-2000s, ONT’s passenger numbers had started to drop, while local residents became increasingly frustrated over the lack of airline, flight and restaurant options. Then in 2011, ONT was named among the “fastest-declining midsize airports in the country,” as concerns grew over LAWA’s dedication to the airport.

Learn More About ONT's History

The Campaign to Reclaim ONT

In 2012, the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County teamed up to launch the Set Ontario Free campaign, advocating for local control of ONT. They formed a Joint Powers Authority called the Ontario International Airport Authority. Then the OIAA sued for control of the airport, arguing that LAWA wasn't fulfilling its obligations to support and grow ONT.

“Ontario International Airport was in a downward spiral a decade ago,” recalled OIAA Board President Alan D. Wapner, who was Ontario’s Mayor Pro Tem at the time and led the charge to take back local control of the airport. “Local leaders took bold steps to bring it back home.”

As local leaders drove the Set Ontario Free fight in Southern California, Congresswoman Norma Torres fought for support at the federal level.

We’ll be sharing more about the Set Ontario Free campaign throughout our year-long anniversary celebration, including some cheeky moves that helped bolster public support for bringing ONT back under local control. (Who remembers THAT VAN?!?) So be on the lookout for videos, newsletters, blog articles and social media posts that will offer behind-the-scenes stories from the community leaders who were on the ground floor of the Set Ontario Free campaign.

After a few years of campaigning and negotiations, Wapner stood with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti on August 6, 2015 to announce they’d reached a settlement. On December 17, 2015, OIAA’s Board of Commissioners approved a $250 million agreement that would transfer control of ONT to the authority. And on June 13, 2016, Congress approved federal legislation – introduced by Congressman Ken Calvert – that paved the way for ONT’s transfer back to local control.

“We put this in an appropriations bill, which funds the entire United States government, so they couldn’t take it out,” Calvert recalled with a grin. After the bill passed the House, Calvert said the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein made sure it got through the Senate so it could be signed into law.

“I think a lot of people didn’t expect that to happen,” Calvert said. Los Angeles did have solid legislative clout, after all. But so did the Inland Empire, Calvert said, with a number of senior members who were able to negotiate “from a position of strength” in favor of returning ONT to local control.

Congressman Pete Aguilar recalls a “collective sigh of relief” when he participated in that unanimous 2016 vote.

“We knew that this airport would be better run, better managed and put the Inland Empire in a more positive light if it was under local control,” Aguilar said.

The transfer officially took place on November 1, 2016, when OIAA reclaimed the airport from LAWA. That brought ONT back to full local control for the first time in nearly half a century, setting the stage for the airport’s biggest decade yet.

Time to Revive Your Airport

After taking control of the airport, OIAA didn’t waste any time setting wheels in motion to begin reviving the vital transportation hub, job creator and community asset that is ONT.  

During the first full year of local control in 2017, Ontario International Airport welcomed Frontier Airlines, which launched three new nonstop flights in the largest commitment of new air service at the airport in more than a decade. ONT also signed an eight-year agreement with Hudson Group to upgrade the airport’s shopping options. Southwest Airlines started nonstop flights to Dallas Love Field. And transportation improved after ONT welcomed its first app-based rideshare services with Lyft & Uber while OmniTrans expanded public transit service to the airport and ONT AiRadio began providing commercial-free, 24/7 updates on 620AM.

And that was all in the first year of ONT returning to local control.

“Since regaining local control, our mission has always been to build an airport that truly serves the people of this region,” said airport CEO Atif Elkadi. “Through the vision of our Board, the dedication of our team and partners, and the trust of our travelers, ONT has become more than an airport; it’s a symbol of Southern California’s growth, resilience and promise for the future.”

Highlights from the past nine years are detailed on flyOntario.com/10, a webpage we launched today as part of the Celebrating a Decade of Local Control campaign. Learn more about our story, share your own photos and insights, and get excited about all of the anniversary-themed events we’ve got planned over the next 12 months.

Ready to Celebrate

Starting today, you'll see elements of our vibrant Celebrating a Decade of Local Control campaign integrated into just about everything we do for the next year, from the bustling terminals to our social media channels to our upcoming 5K at the Runway.

Here’s a look at how you can already join the celebration, plus a sneak peek at some of what’s to come throughout the year.

Watch Trailer for Anniversary Year

This trailer, which offers a preview of our Decade of Local Control campaign, just dropped! Give it a watch, then feel free to give it a like and share a link on your own channels.

Official Launch of This Blog

If you’re looking for advice on flying with a toddler or staying safe on a solo vacation, where do you go? What about finding the inside scoop on how to pass time while waiting for a flight at ONT or the airport's best bars?  

A couple months ago, you would’ve had to visit multiple different websites or social media accounts or rely on word-of-mouth tips to find all of this information. But in September, we quietly launched ONTo the Next Destination, the official blog of ONT. And today, we're officially offering this page up to the world as a one-stop-shop for useful travel tips, vacation inspiration and sharing all of the great things happening at our airport.

ONTo the Next Destination gives us another channel to inspire travel, connect with our community and tell the airport's story, said Eren Cello, ONT’s Senior Vice President of Communications & Marketing.

If you've already been reading our stories, we hope you've found them useful and engaging. And if you're just joining us for this official launch, we hope you'll keep coming back, since we're posting new articles every week to help get you ONTo the Next Destination!

Bringing ONT to Our Communities

Throughout the year-long celebration, we're taking ONT directly to the heart of the Inland Empire and beyond with a series of monthly Community Pop-Ups! Imagine fun, engaging events in various local spots — even bigger than the great booths our Community Engagement team already creates.

"Our community played a vital role in our journey to local control, and we want to celebrate with them throughout the campaign," said Stephanie King, ONT’s Director of Community Engagement. "Each month, the airport will host an exciting, interactive Pop-up in a different city across our region. From custom swag to entertainment to delicious treats, we're pulling out all the stops to create these special opportunities to engage with our community and say 'thank you' for their support!"

These pop-ups will be a fantastic opportunity to connect and celebrate together. Keep checking flyOntario.com/10 and follow @flyONT on social media to stay in the loop!

Passenger Pop-Ups All Year

Imagine being frazzled parents, traveling with your kids for the first time, or someone who’s nervous about your first solo trip. You round the corner at the ONT terminal and run into a pop-up booth with our smiling ONT team giving away fun treats!

Every month from January to October, we’ll be hosting fun, Decade-of-Local-Control-themed Passenger Pop-Up events in our terminals, where we get to spread some joy, give away some custom swag and share our story with our valued passengers. Visit flyOntario.com/10 for a look at what we’ve got planned!

Sweet Collaborations with Beloved Brands

Get ready for some delightful partnerships, as we're developing special anniversary-themed collaborations with a beloved local bakery, another iconic Inland Empire brand and a major chain!

We can't reveal all the delicious details just yet. But these partnerships will add a unique flavor to our celebrations while further highlighting our commitment to supporting local businesses.