Ontario faces heavy lifting to get airport back on its feet -- Now that Ontario has regained control of its airport in a deal struck with Los Angeles, the Inland Empire city faces a substantial challenge to revive a struggling facility that has lost more than a third of its passengers since 2007. The sale agreement announced Thursday could also have ramifications for regionalizing air traffic, a legal mandate to spread some of the growth in passengers from busy Los Angeles International Airport to other commercial airfields in the Los Angeles Basin. Dan Weikel & Hailey Branson-Potts/Los Angeles Times

Expert: $1 billion back to local economy with local ONT control -- The return of local control of LA/Ontario International Airport will result in the return of $1 billion annually back to the local economy, said regional economist John Husing. Husing, chief economist for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, had advocated efforts to bring back local control in the past several years when Inland Empire regional leaders were calling for a reversal of three decades of ownership by Los Angeles after years of declining passengers and lost airline business. Liset Marquez & Neil Nisperos/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Return of airport will bring economic growth, experts predict -- Todd Simons left his office for Ontario International Airport at noon, and it wasn't because he had a plane to catch. The director of sales and marketing for DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel said he's waited so long for Ontario to wrest control of its airport from Los Angeles World Airports that he simply had to bask in the moment when the deal was announced. "It's a big win for Ontario," Simons said, as he vocalized a dream by Inland Empire hoteliers to drive up the room count on convention and group events, bring in more direct flights and get travelers to understand that Ontario, Calif., is not in Canada. Debra Gruszecki/Riverside Press-Enterprise

Cost for transfer is $190 million -- The price tag for transferring Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles ownership back to Inland control is $190 million over 10 years, according to a settlement term sheet that outlines the agreement. The first $70 million will come with the title transfer of the airport to the Ontario/Ontario International Airport Authority. The transfer is estimated to be finalized by October 2016. Richard K. De Atley/Riverside Press-Enterprise Liset Marquez/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin City News Service AP KTLA KABC790 Fox11

Officials react to Ontario International Airport transfer -- Officials from the have reacted to the news that Los Angeles will transfer ownership of LA/Ontario International Airport to an inland authority.  Andrew Watterson, Southwest's senior vice president of network and revenue management: "Southwest has been actively monitoring this discussion and we congratulate the cities of Ontario and Los Angeles on their agreement. With more than 250 departures a day from the four airports through which we serve the LA Basin, we carry more Southern Californians every day than any other airline. We look forward to working with the ONT leaders to explore any additional service opportunities for the Inland Empire in a more favorable cost environment." Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Inland News Today Highland Community News

Deal returns facility to local control -- Ontario and Los Angeles have reached terms to return Ontario International Airport to local control, ending decades of remote ownership by Los Angeles and avoiding what promised to be a lengthy and costly civil trial over Ontario's 2013 lawsuit to wrest the facility back. The trial, in which jurors could have heard about billions of dollars in economic damage to the city of Ontario from years of reduced airport services, was set to begin Aug. 17 in Riverside County Superior Court. Richard K. De Atley/Riverside Press-Enterprise Inland Valley Daily Bulletin AP

Lovingood: Airport deal will spur regional, local economy -- Officials announced Thursday that Los Angeles will hand control of Ontario International Airport back to the city of Ontario, a move that San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Robert Lovingood says will provide a "powerful boost" to the county's economy, with "side benefits" to Southern California Logistics Airport and the High Desert. Victorville Daily Press Matthew Cabe/Desert Dispatch

OC Business Council applauds LA transfer of ONT back to local control -- Orange County Business Council (OCBC) released the following statement today in response to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Ontario International Airport Authority President and Ontario Mayor pro Tem Alan Wapner's announcement to transfer ownership of the Ontario International Airport back to the City of Ontario: "OCBC fully supports this deal as its significance reaches beyond the borders of both LA and Ontario to the entire Southern California region." said Lucy Dunn, OCBC president and CEO, and OIAA Orange County representative. OCBC Press Release

At ONT event, gladness and glad-handing -- By my count, Terminal 4 of L.A./Ontario International Airport hosted around 350 people for Thursday's press conference, some seated in the 120 chairs, the rest standing shoulder to shoulder to watch history unfold. In other words, this was more people than the struggling airport has seen in years. What ONT has needed, clearly, is press conferences. It got a huge one Thursday as a deal to return ONT was announced. In local terms, this is akin to giving Manhattan back to the Indians. David Allen/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Base at Sonoma County airport plays big role in attack on Rocky Fire -- One of the sweetest sounds during a pitched battle with a raging wildfire is the roar of an airplane swooping in low to deliver a payload of orange-red retardant, the gooey substance splattering on contact and snuffing out flames threatening lives or homes. Two massive blazes in the North Bay in the past three weeks have again brought home the crucial role aerial bombers play in combating conflagrations across drought-stricken California. Derek Moore/Press Democrat

Tampa airport CEO Joe Lopano gets 5 percent raise; his plan for staff bonuses is delayed -- The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority voted Thursday to give Tampa International Airport CEO Joe Lopano a 5 percent raise, though some board members felt he deserved twice that. Lopano last received a raise - of 5 percent - in October and now makes $347,287 a year. His new raise of more than $17,000 will kick in Oct. 1. Board member Sam Rashid said the board could later discuss a performance bonus for Lopano, who is overseeing a $953 million expansion at the airport. Justine Griffin/Tampa Bay Times

Eugene Airport "hires" 60 goats to dine on hard-to-reach terrain -- Think your job is tough? Try eating blackberry bushes and thistles for a living. That's what 60 goats are doing, chomping their way through an area at the Eugene Airport to clear it of unwanted vegetation. The airport hired the herd as an environmentally friendly alternative to weed clearing because it cannot use herbicides in a drainage ditch. Also, the steep-sloped ditch is dangerous to mow with machinery, said Airport Director Tim Doll. Edward Russo/Register-Guardian

DFW Airport's new executive focuses on better customer experience -- It is no longer enough to get passengers into an airport terminal and aboard their flight on time, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport's new senior vice president of customer experience told board members Thursday. Concessions need to be top-notch, and directional signs should be easy to read. But even then, a passenger who encounters a dirty restroom will have a negative view of the airport, said Mazhar Butt, who joined DFW this summer after stints in Dubai and London. Andrea Ahles/Fort Worth-Star Telegram

Midway Airport to get $248 million upgrade -- Those annoyingly long security lines at Midway International Airport could be shortened by a major $248 million remodeling of the airport over the next several years, also slated to include more parking, restaurants and shops, according to a proposal announced by city officials Thursday. Under the plan, to be paid for by airport operations and the federal government, the pedestrian bridge over Cicero Avenue would expand from 60 to 300 feet wide, adding 80,000 square feet to the security waiting area. Gregory Karp/Chicago Tribune

Senate report urges government crackdown on airline fees -- The government should crack down on airline fees for things like seat reservations, checked baggage and ticket changes or cancellations, which are often unfair or hidden from consumers, according to a Senate report released Thursday. The report, which is based on an investigation by the Democratic staff of the Senate commerce committee, says there appears to be no connection between the price of checked bag fees and the costs incurred by the airlines that impose them. Joan Lowy/AP

Devoted former workers keep America West's memory alive -- They share photos of their first America West employee badges, memorabilia and the airline's early TV commercials on Facebook. Show up for each others' family emergencies and milestones, and invite airline founder Ed Beauvais to retirement parties. And this past Saturday, several hundred nostalgic former America West employees took their loyalty to another level, packing a resort ballroom near Chandler for an all-day reunion. Dawn Gilbertson/Arizona Republic

Man dies aboard Hilo-bound flight -- A man died Wednesday night aboard United Airlines Flight 1004, which was headed to Hilo from Los Angeles. A Hawai'i State Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed with Big Island Now that the man was in his 40's and died while the flight was en-route to Hilo. The flight took off from Los Angeles International Airport at 5:18 p.m. Pacific time and arrived at 7:18 p.m. Hawai'i time in Hilo, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Jamillia Epping/Big Island Now

Who wins in California politics: Uber or taxis? -- Uber, the ridesharing service that's provoked a wave of new regulations, beefed up its lobbying efforts and stirred the ire of taxicab companies, has become a fashionable mode of transportation for politicians in California, campaign filings show. And Democrats, who have been accused by their GOP counterparts as seeking to stifle innovation by placing curbs on the industry, were big-time customers. Since 2013, Uber's tab for state-level elected officials and candidates neared $6,400, according to campaign finance reports from Jan. 1, 2013, through June 30 of this year. Christopher Cadelago/Sacramento Bee LA Times Editorial: Background checks for Uber, taxi drivers pose issue for Legislature

Faulty carburetor likely led to Harrison Ford's plane crash, NTSB says -- Harrison Ford's vintage plane likely crashed because of a carburetor problem that caused the engine to lose power after taking off from Santa Monica Airport, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report released Thursday. The problem part was found separated from its mounts, and the threads holding the crucial piece of the part together appeared to be rounded off. Veronica Rocha & Dan Weikel/Los Angeles Times

Airbus A-300: This is the start of something big (1968) -- In 1968, a two-page advertisement in Aviation Week & Space Technology touted development of the world's first twin-engined widebody airliner, the "A-300 European Airbus." Marketed by a partnership of France's Sud Aviation, the U.K.'s Hawker Siddeley Aviation and Germany's Deutsche Airbus, the ad pre-dated the creation of Airbus as a company in 1970. The A-300 was touted as as quiet, spacious, more efficient and twice as reliable as other airliners of the day. It first flew on Oct. 28, 1972 and entered service in 1974, a year later than originally envisioned. Joe Anselmo/Aviation Week