Originally Posted by
Kacee
Yeah, ONT's been dying a slow death for years, since LAWA abandoned plans to turn it into an LAX alternative. It served over 7 million pax in 2007 and has never come close to that again.
ONT has been growing like crazy since it was rescued from the LAWA bureaucrats. I can't think of anyone who prefers LAX over ONT and given the shift in population growth to the Inland Empire and high desert, the ONT catchment area probably rivals that of LAX who needs to share its catchment with better alternatives in Orange County, Long Beach and Burbank. LAX is a perpetual disaster in slow motion and one of the worst managed airports in the country.
I often selected a one-stop ex-ONT vs a LAX non-stop with the expectation of visiting the Escape Lounge which was often busy without being crowded, and the entire experience at this airport and these lounges was 99% less stressful than dealing with LAX.
The loss of these lounges is a major problem. I hope Amex reconsiders this decision. At the very least they could have approached UA, AS and DL about sharing the cost in exchange for admitting those airline's club members at least in Terminal 2, pending the restoration of service from China (Taiwan) Airlines post-virus.