Friends Of Meigs had this to say about the closing of Meigs Airfield:
Chicago, IL ? The City of Chicago today used surprise and shock tactics to start demolishing Meigs Field, the world-renowned airport serving downtown, ripping up runway without notice in the dark of night under police guard. ?We are in shock,? said Rachel Goodstein, president of the Friends of Meigs Field. ?The City of Chicago had agreed to keep Meigs Field open until 2026,? she said, citing a December 2001 agreement between Mayor Daley and Governor Ryan.
World reknown? Uh-huh. As Steve Neal pointed out That designation fits London’s Heathrow, Metropolitan France’s Orly and Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. It certainly doesn’t fit an airport that primarily serves some small corporate traffic, some general aviation and some state planes.
Their complaint that Daley broke the law by breaking an agreement with George Ryan is a bit hard to figure. That agreement had to be codified and the Illinois Legislature refused to do so–well, to be accurate Pate Philip refused to pass the bill because it allowed for the expansion of O’Hare. The agreement couldn’t be passed in the US Senate because Peter Fitzgerald filibustered it. So the agreement certainly wasn’t law and even George Ryan agreed the original agreement was by the wayside because of the lack of legislative action.
The Friends of Meigs are now suing to stop any further destruction of Meigs. This is nothing more than a nuisance lawsuit. While the midnight raid was petty and stupid, it makes some sense given the ridiculous arguments coming out of Meigs proponents and their actions.
The only legal issue present is whether Daley should have waited thirty days or not. Trying to blame Daley’s autocratic style (normally a legitimate criticism) is simply a diversion for having an argument weak on the merits. Daley wasn’t even that autocratic this time except in the exact timing of the runway destruction. The fight over Meigs has been going on for nearly 10 years. Many are claiming that the public process was subverted when the reality was that the public process was unbelievably long.
Even more strange is the talk out of Congress that this was a blow to Chicago infrastructure. In no way is this a blow to most flight traffic in the region. An important point to demonstrate this is only 16 planes were at Meigs on the day it was closed. There are no commercial flights and haven’t been for several years. Why eliminating a small airport of little value in the larger regional transit scheme should be a factor in future infrastructure decisions is unclear other than Friends of Meigs is really loud and Members of Congress thought that this was actually a big deal.
Why is only 16 planes being at an airfield an indication of how busy it is? London Heathrow has around 80 planes on the ground at any one time. That makes Meigs a little under a quarter as busy as Heathrow. I also know a small airfield just outside London that has maybe 30 planes parked and during the Summer there are more planes in and out than Heathrow.
Because you know, comparing Meigs to Heathrow just makes a whole lot of sense…
Did it eve have 16 scheduled flights that day? You aren’t actually arguing that it was busy are you?
Meigs is gone and a park will be a good replacement.