Ontario, Calif. Sues Los Angeles Over Airport

Ontario, Calif. officials have apparently reached the end in their willingness to negotiate with Los Angeles officials regarding the return of LA/Ontario International Airport to local power.

On Monday, they filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.

The lawsuit is the latest development in a three-year battle between Ontario officials and Los Angeles World Airports.

LAWA controls LA/ONT, Los Angeles International Airport and two other regional airports in Los Angeles County.

The 25-page complaint filed in Riverside County Superior Court also names Los Angeles’ Board of Airport Commissioners and LAWA in the suit.

The airport’s passenger volume plummeted to 4.2 million last year from 7.2 million in 2007.

The latest projections indicate that the level could fall below 4 million in 2013 even as the number of travelers at other commercial airports in the region has been increasing.

According to the lawsuit, the airport “is at a crisis point” because Los Angeles has put its energy into its $4 billion in development projects at LAX to the Ontario airport’s detriment.

LAWA has failed to lower Ontario’s high cost for airlines and has slashed the airport’s marketing budget at least 90% since 2007, according to Ontario officials.

Ontario officials, who have threatened to sue before if an agreement couldn’t be reached, filed a claim for damages in April laying the groundwork for the lawsuit.

The claim came in May just a day after Ontario officials rejected an offer from LAWA to sell the airport to local officials for $475 million.

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