Chino Resident James Kesler Named Ontario International Airport Chief Operations Officer

Ontario International Airport (ONT) announced the appointment of James Kesler as chief operations officer, a position intended to strengthen the airport’s strategic and business development initiatives, revenue generation endeavors and innovation efforts.

A resident of nearby Chino, Kesler has served the Southern California gateway in a consulting capacity since the airport’s transfer from the City of Los Angeles to a joint authority of the City of Ontario and San Bernardino County in 2016.

“James is well-known and highly respected among our commissioners, staff and airline partners,” said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA). “James’s experience and depth of knowledge have been critical to our airport’s success since the transfer to local ownership and his ongoing work will be vital to Ontario International’s position as an economic driver for Southern California as we move forward.”

In his consulting role, Kesler helped bring Amazon to ONT as an air cargo tenant, increased real estate revenue by more than $3.5 million and played a leading role in attracting new airline passenger service.

“I am honored to work with so many people who are passionate about creating a dynamic international aviation gateway in the Inland Empire,” Kesler said. “I firmly believe my background as an innovator and problem solver will be invaluable to achieving success for our airport, tenant airlines and other business partners.”

A Utah native, Kesler earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University.