Ralph Olson Puts Ontario International Airport Under the Microscope To
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FEATURE ONT and by the following year the site was a early operations were limited both in title would not be officially transferred Ontario’s Terminal fully equipped Army Air Corps training frequency and destinations. until 1985. A joint powers agreement 2 is home to six UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and operations base. Commercial airline facilities were included plans to develop the airport as airlines including I810102AOW2019 The P-38 Lightning, built by Lockheed mainly former military buildings with the the need arose. It was decided that Los China Airlines, which in Burbank, California, was the first terminal, originally built to house a chapel, Angeles would lead and Ontario follow, launched nonstop military aircraft to be seen with cinema and canteen for servicemen and with a commitment to a regional airport flights to Taipei in regularity at the now Ontario Army workers during World War Two. plan for the facility. late March 2018. Airfield (OAAF) where pilots were trained Although passenger numbers were All images author in air-to-air gunnery. Rookie pilots limited, the airport was still a beehive of More Routes Ontario’s fired at long sleeves pulled by modified activity. Three major aircraft producers Jet service debuted at Ontario in 1968 Lockheed Vega Ventura bombers. The – Lockheed, Douglas and Northrop – had when Pacific Southwest Airlines began airfield was also home to an operational huge facilities on site and the state’s Air Boeing 737 flights to San Francisco. This North American P-51 Mustang unit. National Guard (ANG) was also present. was followed a year later by Air California Operations and training ceased at the Runway extensions in 1952, 1956 and 737 flights to San Jose, California; end of the war and the army declared again in 1962 were funded by the ANG Continental Airlines 720Bs to Denver, the airfield as surplus on November 15, to accommodate its faster and higher Colorado and Chicago; and Western Secret Is Out 1945 when it went into inactive status for performance aircraft. Airlines 737s with non-stops to Salt Lake Ralph Olson puts Ontario International Airport under the microscope military purposes, although other civilian In the early 1960s, ONT still had a gravel City, Utah, and Sacramento, California. operations were allowed. parking area and services to only two cities. United and American Airlines began to examine the fluctuating history of this Los Angeles facility. Routes and frequencies were being slightly serving Chicago and Dallas from 1970. Military Legacy improved when Bonanza began non-stop The airport was growing fast as people enewed local control is proving to of Ontario Airport’ landed on an unused World War Two The airport became a centre for freight flights to Phoenix, Arizona, and Western discovered air travel as a new way of be the secret of success at Ontario dirt road near the Union Pacific railway Huge changes came to the airport after and was renamed Ontario International started flying direct to San Francisco with a getting around, with trains quickly International Airport (ONT). It (railroad) tracks in Southern California, the US joined the world war in December Airport in 1946 on the back of regular daily Lockheed L-188 Electra. becoming regarded as outdated. serves Greater Los Angeles, an about 38 miles east of downtown 1941. The following year a new tower was transpacific cargo flights. On May 18, in The city of Ontario’s attempts to Demand for air travel at ONT rose Rarea of 33,954 sq miles (87,940km2) Los Angeles. built on the north side of the field and the same year, a Douglas C-54 (DC-4) promote the airport were meeting with steadily in the 1970s and 1980s with the with a population of almost 20 million. There were no homes in this area, which the dirt runway extended. Skymaster of Pacific Overseas Airlines only small successes. Near the coast, Los airport passing the one million annual Competition comes from four other major was dominated by almost endless orange Ontario soon became a centre of war arrived at ONT from Shanghai, China, Angeles International Airport (LAX) was passenger mark in 1972, the two commercial airports in a conurbation groves, packing companies and a freezer activity. A new 4,700ft (1,433m) concrete and began the first, but short-lived, attractive, growing and had clout with million passenger milestone which is the largest metropolitan area station. Vast quantities of oranges were strip was added and designated the regularly scheduled passenger service airlines that could, if it wanted, direct in 1979, four million in 1986 in the USA. shipped to Chicago by train. Ice was northeast/southwest runway. The original between the United States and Asia. business to ONT. A diversionary airport and five million in 1989. As This regional facility, within an area added to the freight wagons (box cars) to one was refurbished and extended to It was not until 1949, with the airport was also needed for when frequent low passenger numbers spiked, known as the ‘Inland Empire’, has keep the fruit cool. 6,200ft (1,890m) and called the east/ once again controlled by the city cloud and fog blanketed LAX, sometimes runways were expanded to seen ups, downs and issues over The landing area became known as west runway. It was given a concrete ‘fathers’, that airlines established a for hours on a daily basis. match demand. control in its almost 90-year history. Latimer Field, named after the packing surface and radar and instrument larger presence when Western Airlines A deal came in 1967 when the city of A significant factor is a long but company next to the airstrip. landing systems were installed. The began scheduled flights to Las Vegas. Los Angeles purchased ONT for $1.2 sometimes chequered history with its The city of Ontario purchased 30 works were funded by the government’s Bonanza Air Lines was the second million and it became part of the area’s mighty neighbour 38 miles (61km) to acres (12.1 hectares) of land south of Work Progress Administration at a cost carrier with Fairchild Hiller F-27 flights, regional airports system, even though its the west – Los Angeles International the tracks in 1929 for $12,000, close to of $350,000. The expansion added 470 also serving Las Vegas. These Airport (LAX). Latimer Field, and established Ontario acres (190 hectares) to ONT and gave the Municipal Airport (ONT). The facility facility a new, modern appearance. Making Tracks and its first tower were set up near the On February 27, 1942, an Army Air A group of aviation enthusiasts staked a Union Pacific tracks so that pilots could Corps aircraft made the first claim to establish an airport at the site gauge the direction and strength of the landing at the new now occupied by ONT in 1923. A Curtiss wind by observing smoke from passing airport JN4 Jenny belonging to the ‘First Friends locomotives. 56 airports of the world // Jan-Feb 2019 www.airportsworld.com 57 LEFT: Boeing 767- Cargo 300F, N1181A is wet-leased by ABX Air Amazon Prime Air Amazon Prime Air (operated by ABX Air, from Atlas Air and is Atlas Air and Air Transport International) a regular visitor to the airport Ameriflight Air Transport International FedEx Express FedEx Feeder (operated by West Air) Kalitta Air UPS Airlines Serving Ont Aeroméxico Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines (operated by Horizon Air) LEFT: Ready for American Airlines boarding, Boeing China Airlines 777-300ER B-18006 Frontier Airlines is prepared for its return flight to Taipei. Delta Air Lines The aircraft was Delta Connection delivered to China Southwest Airlines Airlines in 2016. United Airlines United Express Volaris an on-going, network-wide investment the company continues to make in hub expansion and automation. “We are expanding UPS’s integrated network to meet the needs of customers as they grow their businesses in the US and around the world.” FedEx Express also has a major distribution operation at ONT that serves major cities throughout the country. FedEx Feeder, operated by West Air, utilises the Cessna 208B Super ABOVE: Passengers In 1981 a second east/west runway, it is allowed to operate around the gales blow in strong gusts and at 500ft its fleet of A300s, 747s, 757s, 767s and The airport also sorts and distributes Cargomaster to distribute to smaller at Terminal 2 queue 26L/08R, was built necessitating the clock, ONT shares the same night-time can reach speeds of 70kts, which is MD11s, UPS operates 38 daily flights in the majority of UPS International communities in California and for check-in for the removal of the old northeast/southwest procedures as LAX. hurricane force. Landing in these and out, and serves as a southwestern packages for delivery to the Pacific Rim a few neighbouring states. non-stop China runway, 4/22. The remaining existing Between 10pm and 7am, all turbojet conditions puts pilots and aircraft at the regional hub for both air and trucking with four of the six weekly flights flown Other cargo carriers include ABX Airlines flight to one became 26R/08L, but construction and turbofan aircraft must arrive from limits of performance. During extreme operations within a 13-state region. by the company to China originating at Air which serves both primary and Taipei. was not complete until 1987 when the the east on runway 26L or 26R and take Santa Ana conditions at ONT, pilots, at With more than 200 based pilots, the the airport. secondary US cities with its fleet of 767- Allegiant Air does latter was extended to the east, bringing off to the east on runways 08R and 08L.