Ontario International Airport Names New CEO

    March 25, 2022

    By Steve Scauzillo

    Source The Press-Enterprise (TNS)

    After months of speculation, Ontario International Airport’s governing board appointed a new chief executive officer on Thursday, March 24, replacing Mark Thorpe, who led the airport since late 2017.

    Atif Elkadi, 45, deputy CEO of the airport for more than three years, was promoted into the top spot by a unanimous vote of the five-member Ontario International Airport Authority Board of Commissioners.

    “I am truly humbled and honored to be appointed by the board and by the confidence they are showing in me with this appointment,” he said Thursday.

    He will earn a salary of $370,000 plus benefits, the airport reported.

    Elkadi had been doing the job since October 2021 when Thorpe was stripped of his duties and tasked with a limited special assignment researching the airport’s agreements and contracts with airlines operating at ONT.

    Thorpe agreed to resign earlier in the year and his resignation was announced in January, two days after Thorpe interviewed but did not get the CEO position at Orlando International Airport in Florida.

    According to documents filed with the OIAA, Thorpe would end his employment at ONT by the end of this month. Elkadi will officially take over March 31.

    A separation agreement was signed by Thorpe and Alan Wapner, OIAA president. In a resignation letter, Thorpe thanked his staff and the OIAA for his work these past four-and-a-half years.

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    “I look forward to watching from afar as ONT becomes a leading destination airport for Southern California,” Thorpe concluded in his letter.

    Thorpe did not respond to requests for interviews on Thursday.

    Elkadi, who managed day-to-day operations at ONT, has 16 years of experience in the airport industry. Before his job in Ontario, he worked as senior manager of corporate communications at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport from 2013-2017. Before that, Elkadi managed internal communications, customer service communications and social media for Dubai International Airport.

    “We’re fortunate to have someone of Atif’s experience and leadership as we continue our strong recovery from the pandemic and assert ourselves further as Southern California’s airport of choice,” said Wapner, OIAA president and mayor pro-tem of Ontario in a statement.

    Elkadi was asked about following Thorpe, who many in the airport industry regarded as an innovative leader who helped grow the number of airlines and flights at ONT.

    “Mark really helped set the foundation. My goal is to build on that. To do what the board has set for us to do,” he said.

    Elkadi didn’t name a particular project to begin working on, but said he would follow the board’s direction.

    “I will put it this way, the board approved three tenets: invest in ONT, plan for the future and master the basics. Those are our strategic goals and objectives,” he said.

    While Thorpe was searching for employment elsewhere in January, it is not clear if it was his decision to leave. Emails, documents and correspondence relating to what led to Thorpe’s departure and the reason he was put on special assignment were not released by the OIAA, which cited personnel matters and attorney-client privilege as exemptions from the California Public Records Act.

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    Also, the amount of the severance received by Thorpe was not revealed. In 2020, Thorpe earned $435,388 in total wages, according to the California State Controller’s Office.

    Elkadi hails from Napa, is married and lives with his wife and six children in Jurupa Valley.

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