IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
A Riverside County Superior Court judge has ruled that Los Angeles has a valid claim to ownership of Ontario International Airport.
Judge Gloria Connor Trask ruled that the 1985 agreement that gives Los Angeles ownership of the airport is flawed but remains legitimate, according to multiple reports published Thursday.
Trask also ruled that Ontario’s sale of the airport to Los Angeles 30 years ago was conducted in an “unauthorized” manner and could be overturned, but that the statute of limitations for taking such action expired in 1989.
Trask also upheld the 1967 joint powers agreement between Los Angeles and Ontario that made possible the sale of the airport 18 years later.
Attorneys for Ontario plan to file objections to Trask’s ruling. They have 15 days in which to do so, according to the reports.
Ontario is now locked in a bitter lawsuit with Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that owns and operates Ontario International, over which entity should control the facility.
Local officials believe the airport, which has seen its passenger count and airline service drop to mid-1980s levels during the past seven years, is vital to the Inland Empire’s economic future. They’ve accused LAWA of pouring virtually all of its resources into Los Angeles International at the expense of Ontario International during that time.
Ontario Councilman Alan D. Wapner, who is president of the Ontario International Airport Authority, issued a statement today expressing disappointment in Trask’s ruling, but said all issues haven’t been resolved and the dispute is not over.
“Although we are disappointed by the court’s decision … we are pleased that a jury will have the opportunity to consider Ontario’s three other claims for L.A.s’ breach of its contractual and fiduciary duties when the lawsuit goes to trial this spring,” the statement read.
