Negotiations for the sale and control of Ontario International Airport got an official OK from Los Angeles council members Wednesday, Oct. 10, but only after some admonitions that the airport should not be allowed to compete with LAX.

One councilman suggested that, if Ontario is sold, the deal should include limits to keep the airport from taking business away from Los Angeles International Airport.

“How do we protect our interests?” Councilman Richard Alarcon said “Are we just going to take the cash and let them do whatever they want to with the airport?”

The Los Angeles City Council today gave the final approval on a plan to enter into negotiations for the possible transfer of LA/Ontario International Airport to a new regional authority,despite opposition from two councilmembers.

Los Angeles' top city administrator, Miguel Santana, last month urged Los Angeles and Ontario officials to begin negotiations.

Santana's move was backed by a Los Angeles City Council subcommittee.

ONTARIO - An Inland Empire economist says the demise of passenger traffic at L.A./Ontario International Airport in recent years has not been the result of the region's weakened economy.

John Husing instead blames the airport's management - Los Angeles World Airports - on what he says has resulted in a 41percent drop at the medium-hub facility since 2007.

It's a figure the airport has not seen since 1985 and, in that time, the region has added 2.3million people as well as more than half a million jobs, Husing said.

A congressional panel held a hearing Thursday on whether Ontario International Airport should beautonomous rather than managed by LA World Airports. "Every airport in Southern California has an increase in passengers, this has almost lost 50 percent since 2007," says Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge. Craig Fiegener reports from Ontario for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2012.

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