CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

Beset by the worst economic downturn in the history of the airline industry, Los Angeles International Airport continued to shed passengers in March, including a stunning 19% drop in foreign travel compared with the same month last year. It was the 12th straight month of declines for the world’s sixth largest airport.

Figures released Wednesday by Los Angeles World Airports show that the number of domestic and international passengers at LAX declined from 5.2 million in March 2008 to 4.6 million in March 2009, a drop of about 12.6% overall. The number of international travelers fell from 1.5 million to 1.2 million for the same period.

The greatest declines occurred at Ontario International Airport, where the number of domestic and international passengers dropped by more than 31% from 607,000 in March 2008 to 417,000 in March of this year. For the first three months of the year, Ontario has lost almost 32% of its passengers compared with the first quarter of 2008.

The sharp declines have raised questions about whether Los Angeles World Airports can proceed with a multibillion-dollar effort to modernize LAX, including the Tom Bradley International Terminal. A deep national recession, tight credit markets and declining airport revenue have frustrated attempts by airports across the country to make major improvements.

-- Dan Weikel