Critic of Peotone airport project predicts losses

PEOTONE —  A Colorado aviation consultant is predicting a proposed airport in the far southern Chicago suburb of Peotone could end up losing money.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd says that the Peotone airport could find itself in a situation similar to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in southwestern Illinois.

MidAmerica has struggled since opening with great fanfare in 1998. It continues to lose money, posting roughly $12 million in red ink in 2010, according to an audit last year. Critics have persistently labeled it a $330 million boondoggle, and officials have had to work hard to lure and keep cargo business.

"You've already got one major fiasco called MidAmerica. Don't do it again," Boyd said. "MidAmerica is a monument to dishonest planning."

Boyd told The Associated Press on Monday he had no direct ties to either opponents or supporters of a Peotone airport, adding he based his comments on more than a decade of closely following the project as an analyst.

For the Peotone airport, Illinois has spent $33 million toward the purchase of more than 2,000 acres, and the site is expected to require more than 5,000 acres. Quinn wants to spend another $110 million to purchase land. Construction would require millions more.

It would be the Chicago area's third major airport. The Peotone airport's supporters, including Gov. Pat Quinn, say the project will create jobs and provide needed relief at O'Hare and Midway.

"We firmly believe the South Suburban Airport will benefit the people of Illinois and provide much-needed infrastructure, jobs and potential for economic growth," Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell said in an email.

But Illinois has seen a more than 10 percent drop in the number of people flying in and out of its nine main airports during the past five years. Key Chicago carrier American Airlines' parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection last year. And Southwest Airlines has announced it's pulling flights by subsidiary AirTran from the Quad-City International Airport in Moline and the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington.

Source:  http://www.pjstar.com
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