In testimony Wednesday before the House Subcommittee on Aviation, James K. Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), called upon Congress to condemn the recent closure of Chicago's Merill C. Meigs Field. (Meigs Field, an airport located on the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago, was closed during the early morning hours of March 31 after Chicago Mayor Daley sent in heavy construction equipment to destroy its runway.)

"Congress must act by condemning the action taken by Mayor Daley in destroying Meigs Field late last month," Coyne's testimony said. "At a minimum, a 'Sense of Congress' provision should be adopted to ensure that such actions taken by the Mayor are recognized as being unethical, unconscionable and illegal. In addition, the panel must address this matter so that the Mayor's actions do not establish a precedent for similar future actions at other airports throughout this country."

Coyne's statement to the Subcommittee on Aviation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure came during the panel's first hearing since the airport's closure. The hearing was convened to discuss legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and its programs.

"The ramifications of this sad episode go far beyond the shores of Lake Michigan. In the aftermath of Meigs' closure, any community with the merest whim to close their local airport can do so and point to Chicago as their justification," Coyne testified. "Without swift and strong condemnation by the FAA and others within the federal government, Mayor Daley's actions will be known as the beginning of the end for this nation's highly developed air transportation system."

Coyne also pointed out to the subcommittee that Meigs' closure was done in the name of national security, even though no threat existed, and that Mayor Daley has been trying to close the airport for years. "That the destruction of Meigs Field was done in the name of 'national security' should also set ringing this panel's alarm bells," he said. "This action could well be the first in a long line of state and local government actions designed only to meet personal agendas while ignoring the aviation infrastructure needs of the nation as a whole."

FMI: www.nata-online.org