‘Fly Ontario’ Proposal OKd by Orange County : Campaign Designed to Send Passengers From Congested John Wayne to Airport to the North

An advertising campaign designed to lure Orange County air travelers up the freeway to Ontario International Airport was accepted Wednesday by the county Board of Supervisors, despite concerns from Ontario airport officials that the effort could unfairly burden their own burgeoning air terminal.

The campaign, aimed at an estimated 400,000 residents of northeast Orange County who live within easy commuting distance of Ontario, climaxes several years of marketing studies undertaken to determine how much the Ontario facility can relieve the passenger demand at Orange County’s highly congested John Wayne Airport.

For Orange County officials, the appeal is clear: Last year, 2.8 million passengers flowed through the John Wayne terminal, designed to accommodate only 500,000 per year. Attempts to expand the facility have been fought off vigorously by airport neighbors.

Ontario, 39 miles northward, has nearly three times as many daily jet departures as John Wayne. It served 3.1 million passengers last year and has an annual capacity of 12 million. And business interests around the airport with an eye toward rapid expansion have greeted Orange County’s overtures lustily.

‘Kind of Concerned’

But Ontario Airport Manager Michael DeGiralamo said Wednesday that he questions whether the facility will be able to meet the future air travel needs of the blossoming Inland Empire and Orange County’s as well.

“We’re kind of concerned about them using our airport capacity to solve their airport problems down there,” DeGiralamo said.

“We have to look at the long term. We have the highest growth rate of any major airport in California. We’re now the fifth-busiest passenger airport in the state. And that doesn’t even address the freight end. The bottom line is, we’re concerned about our capacity here.”

While Ontario airport officials have so far not actively battled Orange County’s program, DeGiralamo added, “There’s always the possibility of a lawsuit. It could come to that.”

When it comes to airports, Orange County officials are no stranger to lawsuits.

Newport Beach successfully sued to block a major expansion plan for John Wayne in 1982, and the city sued again last year in an attempt to prevent establishment of a new parking lot at the facility. Homeowners around the airport have repeatedly filed small claims suits over airport noise.

But county officials tend to play down Ontario’s concerns over the “Ontario Airport Awareness Program.”

“We’re not pushing our problems off on them,” said Harriett Wieder, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “They want that to be a profitable airport, they’re talking about expansion. And this is . . . a regional problem. An airport the size of Ontario should welcome increased activity. Otherwise, why expand it?”

Capacity Cited

Stephen Kozak of the John Wayne Airport staff said there is room for nearly 9 million more passengers at Ontario before it reaches the capacity ceiling established by the state Air Resources Board.

“Certainly, portions of Orange County lie within the natural market area of Ontario Airport, and all this program would attempt to do is to make those persons in that service area aware that they have an alternative flight opportunity. We’re not trying to chip away at their capacity,” Kozak said.

DeGiralamo said that one of the reasons Ontario officials have not taken a more active stance against the Orange County advertising program is a basic belief that it will not work.

Most likely, the bulk of the passengers it will attract to Ontario are those who are presently driving from Orange County to Los Angeles International Airport, he said.

“People that are going to use us already know that we’re here,” DeGiralamo pointed out. “People that can use the flights out of Orange County are going to use them. It makes no sense for them to go anywhere else.”

The intent of the advertising campaign is to convince those residents of Fullerton, Anaheim, Brea, Placentia and Yorba Linda who live nearest Ontario that there are, in fact, a number of good reasons to make the drive.

The airport offers 110 flights a day, compared to Orange County’s 41. A wider variety of routes is available, and in many cases the flights are cheaper.

The advertising campaign endorsed by county supervisors Wednesday will consist of a series of billboards, radio spots and newspaper advertisements featuring prominent personalities--preferably friends and relatives of the late John Wayne, such as actor Buddy Ebsen--with the message, “I fly Ontario, it makes sense for me, so think about it when you’re taking your next trip,” according to Bob Payton of Basso & Associates, who developed the campaign.

Costs could range anywhere from $141,000 to $348,000, and supervisors launched a 90-day effort to see what private contributions from businesses, chambers of commerce, tourist bureaus and the like can be attracted to help pay the bill.

The City of Newport Beach has already contributed $5,000.

An association of businesses in Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties known as Friends of Ontario Airport has also been active in pushing the Fly Ontario campaign.

Dale King, an Ontario engineer who heads the group, said its members are “enthusiastic supporters for as many people of north Orange County that can possibly use Ontario to use it. That’s what the airport’s there for--to be used--and we’d like to see it grow.