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In Praise of Ontario Airport
The Travel Critic · June 8, 1998

The airport under construction in Ontario, Calif. is the frustrated traveler's answer to that mile-high misadventure, Denver International.

The $250 million terminal, which opens Sept. 27, leaves out the high-tech gizmos that gummed up baggage distribution and caused other problems that marred the 1995 rollout of Denver's fancy new airport.

"We kept things traditional," says airport spokesman Dennis Watson, who took me through the construction site at Calfornia's fifth-largest airport. "We decided, for instance, to stick with an old-fashioned luggage system that could be maintained and fixed easily."

Denver International regulars will probably recall that airport's infamous baggage fiasco. According to a government report, the automated handling system was "plagued by serious mechanical and software problems" and had to be junked in favor of a $51 million alternate system.

Although Ontario is building a new terminal, it's not building an entirely new system of runways the way Denver did when it scrapped Stapleton. The old terminals-some of which have served Southern California since 1928-are a stone's throw from the steel-and-glass replacements that rise out of the Inland Valley's vineyards and strip malls. They'll probably be retired and turned into office buildings this fall.

How else did Ontario avoid Denver's pitfalls? It didn't blow a lot of money on unnecessary expenses. Even though planners estimated that a total of three new buildings would be needed in a few years, they built two and decided to wait for them to reach capacity before starting the third. (It took Denver International more than two years to reach Stapleton's record capacity levels.)

"We're not a big city airport that's willing to spend big bucks to impress travelers. We're just Ontario," says Watson.

(Ontario International Airport, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles, served 6.3 million passengers last year).

But people will be impressed. A walk through the unopened terminal reveals a simple, elegant design. Check-in areas on the first floor. Boarding areas on the second. Car traffic will flow quickly through two lanes, circulating around to Interstate 10. There's plenty of room for the dozen or so restaurants that promise food at street prices.

And there's no tram, no subway, no people-movers with Darth Vader voices that break down every 10 minutes. You need to get to your gate? You walk. It may sound harsh, but we're not talking miles here-just a quick trip up an escalator from the check-in counter. People with disabilities can also use elevators and courtesy buggies to get to their flights.

"We had three goals in building this new airport," says Watson. "Convenience, convenience and convenience."

Within a few years Ontario could grow into the third-busiest airport in California, behind Los Angeles and San Francisco, so chances are you'll be passing through sooner or later. But it probably won't be on a layover. Ontario isn't a hub; it's a final destination for most passengers. If you need to get to San Bernardino, Riverside or the eastern part of Los Angeles county, you'll see the new terminals.

According to Watson, Ontario's biggest trouble at the moment is name recognition. It may be that within a few years more than 10 million passengers will use the airport annually, but will folks even know where they're flying in to?

Watson had to wonder about that when, at a recent airport managers convention, someone asked him how he handled snow removal on his runways. They thought he was in the province of Ontario. As in Canada. "We've wanted to rename it Southern California International Airport, but that name is already taken," he notes-a closed military base snagged the name. Then there was the other proposed name that was flatly rejected: Elvis International Airport.

The folks at Denver would probably kill for Ontario's anonymity.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator and author of A Bridge to Nowhere: A Year in the Florida Keys. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.