Privatizing airport could bring windfall

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Mayor Richard Daley, who scored a $1.83 billion windfall on the lease of the Chicago Skyway, is considering whether to pursue a similar deal for another of the city's crown jewels: Midway Airport.

Daley administration officials confirmed Friday that they are looking at a possible transaction involving leasing Midway "either in whole or in part" to a private operator, even as legislation that would help make such a deal possible makes its way through the General Assembly.

"The mayor has challenged his entire financial staff to look creatively to improve the city's financial position," said Dana Levenson, the city's chief financial officer. "Federal dollars are drying up. This is thinking outside of the box. Does it end up in a transaction? We don't know. Yet, we have to be considering any and all possibilities."

Though private operations of airports, including those involving long-term leases, are common elsewhere in the world, they are rare in the United States. If a deal ultimately is secured here, Midway would become the biggest airport, by far, under such an arrangement, experts said.

Even though we here at Newsalert are a constant critic of Mayor Daley: give credit where it's due,the government doesn't need to be involved in running airports.Or anything else.We hope this a the beginning of selling all land holdings in Chicago,although we aren't holding our breath.