Ontario Airport Travel: New Caps Follow $185,000 Bill

Residents of Ontario now face an airport board that has formally restricted how members travel and spend. On September 24, commissioners approved bylaw changes that cap monthly stipends at $1,000. The new rules also limit members to one domestic conference annually and one international conference every other year. Each trip now requires advance approval, and the authority can no longer pay for spouses to travel.

These limits follow the release of records showing Alan Wapner billed the Ontario International Airport Authority $184,997 for 72 trips between March 2021 and June 2026. Wapner served on the board until recently. His travel expenses were 64 times the amount reimbursed to the other four board members combined. Board president Ron Loveridge received $2,865 during that period, while the other three members received no reimbursement.

Wapner’s trips took him to locations including Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, the Bahamas, and Hawaii. A January 2023 conference in Maui cost $8,939.40 and included a $7,000 rental of a three-bedroom house. His wife accompanied him on several occasions, such as an April 2026 trip to Rio de Janeiro that cost $14,325. In an email, Wapner stated that his travel was necessary for him to be effective in his position and that none of the trips were junkets.

Loveridge said the spending complied with authority rules at the time. He noted that commissioners were unaware of the trips because Wapner did not report back to the full board. The money came from airport revenue rather than tax dollars. On October 19, the board voted to create an internal auditing program that includes a full-time auditor.

The new rules come as Wapner faces legal scrutiny. The FBI searched his home in Ontario on July 28. Agents also searched the homes or offices of Supervisor Curt Hagman and attorney Frank Lizarraga. Subpoenas were sent to the airport and city hall. No charges have been filed as of October 22. Wapner has dropped his planned mayoral run and is seeking another term on the city council. He said the board was scapegoating him and that travel was a budget line item members could have questioned.

Wapner also earned about $250,000 in meeting stipends from the authority over the past decade. This amount is almost double what Hagman received. Wapner reported 132 trips across five agencies over five years, with those agencies spending a combined $283,630 on his travel.