Mayor Rahm Emanuel will meet with airline executives Monday and says he will be looking for ways for Chicago to keep its edge as a transportation center.
Emanuel today pointed to the Chicago presence of United Airlines, American Airlines, Boeing and electronic booking agencies like Orbitz, and said he wants to figure out how to increase the city's importance in those areas.
"I do not want to just sit on that lead. I want to build it," Emanuel said. "So I asked for this conference. The CEOs of all the major carriers are coming, as well as the Aviation Department, which is hosting it, to discuss what are the steps necessary, so Chicago doesn't have leadership, but what does it take to keep that lead."
Emanuel said he will discuss with airline officials what kinds of improvements to Chicago's workforce and infrastructure they would like to see.
The possible privatization of Midway Airport -- sought by Mayor Richard Daley, before a $2.5 billion deal for a private company to lease the airport fell through -- isn't off the table, Emanuel said. But it isn't on the fast track, either.
"We have a period of time to make that decision," Emanuel said at an unrelated news conference in Kenwood. "We have some things that are going to come before it. At the right time, I'll look at that. As you know, as I said before, I'm against privatization. That doesn't mean you can't monetize assets, but as it relates to privatization, I'm not part of that. That's not part of the discussion."
During the mayoral campaign, Emanuel said he "has no plans to resurrect" the Midway lease proposal "in the near term." After his election, the city asked the Federal Aviation Administration to keep open its application for leasing the airport to a private operator.
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