The Los Angeles City Council approved on Wednesday, Dec. 16 a $250 million agreement that will eventually return Ontario International Airport to Inland control.

The 13-0 council vote came on a recommendation after a closed-session meeting. Los Angeles has operated Ontario International Airport since 1967 and owned it since 1985.

The Wednesday vote concludes local government and airport board approvals for the agreement announced in August, but no transfer can take place without Federal Aviation Administration approval.

“We will now work toward obtaining Federal Aviation Administration certification as we continue planning and preparation for the transfer of airport control in the second half of 2016,” Alan D. Wapner, Ontario City Council Member and president of the Ontario International Airport Authority, said in a statement.

Ontario sued Los Angeles in 2013, claiming the city, Los Angeles World Airports, and the airport’s board of commissioners had since 2007 made administrative moves that cut flight service and cost millions of passengers and billions of dollars to the local economy.

The tentative form of the agreement approved Wednesday was announced in August, just days before trial on the lawsuit was set to begin.

Highlights of the agreement were read into the record before the vote.

If the FAA approves the transfer, the city of Ontario will reimburse Los Angeles World Airports about $60 million for all outstanding Ontario bonds.

The remaining amount is a transfer of money from Ontario’s unrestricted cash accounts and a series of payments to Los Angeles over the decade from the date of transfer.

The payments are to make Los Angeles whole for the improvements it made to the airport over the decades it operated it.

The finalization of the agreement will also end Ontario’s lawsuit against Los Angeles.

Contact the writer: rdeatley@pe.com or 951-368-9573