Allegiant Air is suspending flights between Los Angeles and three northern cities, citing a shortage of space at Los Angeles International Airport.
Allegiant's Los Angeles flights to and from Sioux Falls, S.D.; Billings, Mont., and Pasco, Wash., will stop at the end of the month.
The lack of counter space at LAX - while LA/Ontario International Airport is struggling to keep the facility occupied - demonstrates the need for local control, said Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner.
There is one reason stopping Allegiant from redirecting traffic to ONT, Los Angeles World Airports' smaller hub facility.
"The cost is prohibitive at Ontario," said Jessica Wheeler, Allegiant spokesperson. "If there were incentives offered by LAWA to go to Ontario we would consider them. But up to this point they have not been offered."
That's something airlines have been not publicly acknowledged in the past, Wapner said.
"It validates what we've been saying. It's not the economy, it's too costly to do business," he said.
Wapner said the city has heard from several airlines that have indicated that it's too expensive to do business at ONT.
Traditionally, low-cost carriers such as Allegiant operate out of secondary airports like ONT, Wapner said.
"Realistically, Allegiant should have never been at LAX, they should have been at ONT," he said.
The solution would be to lower the costs of operations or offer incentives, he said.
For more than two years, Ontario has been entangled in battle with LAWA, which manages both LAX and ONT, to regain local control of the Inland Empire facility.
Ontario officials have complained that LAWA has not done its part to attract traffic to the airport.
But LAWA says it's a trend in the airline industry. Carriers are retreating to major hubs in order to reduce costs.
ONT started losing flights in the summer of 2008 when Southwest Airlines announced cutbacks.
In September 2008, Express Jet Airlines pulled the plug on 22 flights and Jet Blue Airways ended its only flight out of the airport.
Brett Snyder, author of the blogcrankyflier.com and a former airline manager, argues that airlines could be lured to ONT.
In Arizona, Allegiant is flying out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport rather than Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, a bigger market, because it is more cost-efficient, he said.
"For airlines like Allegiant, that kind of costs (at ONT) is too high to absorb," he said.
"If Ontario's rates were lower, Allegiant would already be there."
The issue with Allegiant at LAX arose when Alaska Airlines moved from Terminal 3 to Terminal 6. The shuffle meant Allegiant Airlines was sent to Terminal 3, the space formerly occupied by Alaska.
Allegiant spokesman Keith Hansen says the airline does not have adequate gate and ticket counters at the Los Angeles airport. Allegiant also flies between Sioux Falls and Las Vegas, Phoenix and Orlando.
"We offered Allegiant Airlines the opportunity to relocate to another terminal and they declined," according to a statement released by LAWA.
Instead, with less than a month to go, Allegiant will cut service to those airports.
"LAWA recognizes there are gate constraints at Terminal 3 due to current construction in the terminal and on the ramp. This construction is part of our overall program to modernize LAX and improve the levels of service and convenience to passengers," the statement said.
LAWA officials said other airlines in Terminal 3 that were also affected have decided to relocate their operations to another terminal or park their aircraft at remote gates and bus passengers to and from the terminal.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Liset @DBOntarioNow.
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