Analyst Boyd Warns Of Repeat Of MidAmerica St. Louis

After two decades of wringing their hands over air traffic congestion and a bitter battle to expand O'Hare International, Chicago-area planners are hoping to see a third airport to be located near Peotone finally getting off the drawing board in 2012. But an analyst is warning that the new South Suburban Airport could be a money pit, and cites the example of another recent midwest airport project.

Aviation Consultant Michael Boyd tells The Bloomington Pantagraph, "You’ve already got one major fiasco called MidAmerica. Don’t do it again. MidAmerica is a monument to dishonest planning."

He's referring to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport near Belleville in southwestern Illinois, which shares its runways with Scott Air Force Base, and which cost taxpayers $313 million to build. It was proposed as a remedy for crowded airspace around Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, but since coming online in 1997 has never attracted a single major airline flight. Even Allegiant Air, which shuttled vacationers to Orlando and Las Vegas, discontinued service at MidAmerica three years ago, leaving no commercial service whatsoever. An audit shows the airport lost another $12 million for the year 2010.

South Suburban Airport is a darling of government planners, but Peotone is an hour's drive south of Chicago, and passenger traffic from Illinois airports has dropped 10 percent in the last five years. American Airlines, which uses Chicago O'Hare as a hub, is in bankruptcy, and its expected acquisition by a competitor is also expected to be followed by a reduction in capacity as the new owner looks for synergies.

The state of Illinois has already spent $33 million to acquire land for the new airport, expects to spend another $110 million to buy the remainder of the 5,000 acres needed, and that doesn't include any funds for airport construction.

FMI: www.southsuburbanairport.com