Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

http://www.airportbusiness.com....jsp?id=4748&siteSection=4

Man, I couldn't agree more with the proponents of turning Gary into Chicago's third airport for scheduled pax traffic. This whole idea of spending billions of federal tax dollars to build a brand new airport near Peotone is a bunch of crap. Gary is closer to downtown Chicago, is already there, doesn't face the opposition of nearby property owners, and would cost a fraction of a totally new airport. Sure, the mayor of Chicago and the State of Illinois wouldn't be able to control the airport, but is that worth billions? They ought to make a regional airports authority, much like the Port Authority of NY-NJ that will manage all three major airports, and the reliever airports, in the Chicago metro area.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

I'm not so sure I agree. It is Gary. Who wants to drive there? Plus they are about to lose their last scheduled service. So like Lafeyette they will have no service. Why expand? 1 gate in a few months will be too many.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

In the broader context of the need for a third Chicago-area airport, it only makes sense to fix up the existing facilities in Gary rather than building an all new airport. The State of Illinois already used a bunch of federal tax money to build a brand new airport down near St. Louis, and now it's sitting there as an expensive terminal with no scheduled service.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Do they really need a 3rd airport? With 3 hubs in the city there is alot of connecting traffic eating up space. It would seem that simple adjustments in how the likes of AA, UA and WN handle passengers there could eliminate some of the problems. Adding more capacity to one point on the map could cause huge problems to the network if there was a big storm over Chicago. Everyone else would be impacted. Better traffic management by at least AA and UA would help greatly.

BTW... this airport you speak of. Is this the big project that was completed and fully staffed but not a single airline serving it? I heard about some international airport that was built despite objections and nobody came to use it.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

Yeah. This is the MidAmerica airport in Alton, IL.

http://www.flymidamerica.com/

It was conceived back when STL was a fortress hub for TWA, and flights in and out were relatively expensive. It was thought that the new airport could become an effective second airport the likes of MDW to ORD, FLL to MIA, or SNA to LAX. But the airlines really didn't want to fly there. The State of Illinois, always very powerful in federal politics, was able to secure a ton of federal money for this boondoggle. I recall it was featured on the "Fleecing of America" segment on Tom Brokaw's NBC News.

I seem to recall AA agreeing to fly 3-4 flights a day up to ORD on little props, but then they bought TWA and promptly said no thanks to that arrangement. I think they were trying to land a DHL or Airborne hub there after the thing opened with no scheduled pax service. I'm not sure what their marketing thrust is now, but with the underutilization at STL, I can't see scheduled service there anytime soon. They do have regular charter service to Laughlin and Reno on Allegiant Air. In that regard, it seems like a similar place to Gary, which has (had?) only Hooters Air, which is "scheduled charter" service to Myrtle Beach, I believe.

Anyway, now the State of Illinois has proposed a third Chicago airport near Peotone, in Will County. Just Google "Peotone Airport" to see everything you could ever want to see about it. Politicos in Indiana have pointed out that the Gary airport already exists, and for much less money could be turned into the third Chicago airport. It's also closer to more of the population expected to use such an airport. Those familiar with Chicago politics will understand how control of MDW and ORD, ultimately, by the mayor of Chicago, factors into the cool response this gets from IL state officials and others. But the Gary proposal, if you agree that they need a third airport in the first place, makes so much more sense than building another brand new facility on prime farmland in northeastern Illinois.