"Peotone proponents say airport will fly"

Monday, September 15, 2003

Peotone proponents say airport will fly 
By Kelly Quigley
Crain's Chicago (IL) Business


Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, and leaders from four suburban
communities on Monday laid out a plan to build a single-runway airport in
Peotone by 2008-without state or federal funding. 

The proposal is long on optimism, but short on details. 
 
Citing a study by two real estate developers that concluded the airport
could be financed, built and operated with no financial risk to local
communities or the state, Mr. Jackson said a third airport is economically
feasible and closer than ever to becoming a reality. 

"We have assembled a package that will ensure that the state of Illinois and
the Chicago area will remain the nation's aviation hub without public
expense and without public risk," Mr. Jackson said at a press conference in
downtown Chicago this morning.

The linchpin for the lofty plan lies with a new intergovernmental agreement,
expected to be finalized within a month, that includes participation from
the south suburbs of University Park and Park Forest and the northwest
suburbs of Bensenville and Elk Grove Village. Upon approval from their
municipal boards, leaders from those communities would solicit private
sector partners to design, fund, build and operate the Peotone airport. 

Private funding would speed up development by eliminating the lengthy
appropriation process to obtain federal funds, said Mr. Jackson, who will
oversee the public-private partnership going forward. 

The two developers that performed the feasibility study-Pennsylvania-based
LCOR Inc. and Canada-based SNC-Lavalin Group-say they're interested in
financing the project, but would not say how much money they would provide.

Mr. Jackson and the developers also would not provide figures on the cost to
build the new airport, saying only that their study shows the first phase
would cost tens of millions of dollars less than previous estimates. 

Earlier this year, state transportation officials put the project's initial
phase in the $400 million to $600 million range. 

It also remains unclear which airlines would provide service to a small,
Peotone airport. LCOR Senior Vice-president David Sigman said discussions
with carriers haven't started, but suggested the smaller airport would
appeal to low-cost airlines like Jet Blue Airways and AirTran Airways, and
some larger carriers like Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.'s United
Airlines, which offer regional service. 

Proponents of the Peotone airport say it wouldn't compete with Chicago's
O'Hare International or Midway airports.

A lofty goal

Although Mr. Jackson and the suburban leaders are enthusiastic about their
plan, it faces an uphill battle littered with uncertainties-not the least of
which are viable funding sources and the participation of a major airline.

Getting the airport up and running by 2008 is "plausible, but seems a bit
optimistic," said Joseph Schwieterman, a DePaul University associate
professor specializing in metropolitan transportation issues. 

"While the latest developments are promising, there's still reason for
skepticism," he said. "A commitment by a major airline is an important next
step to make private financing a reality. Without such a commitment these
deals have a tendency to fall apart."

Leaders from more than a dozen south suburban communities, including
Glenwood, Homewood, Calumet City, Matteson and Olymia Fields, joined Mr.
Jackson at Monday's press conference to show support of the plan. Many of
them have said they would consider joining the intergovernmental group that
will oversee the proposed project. 

Notably absent from the press conference were Illinois Department of
Transportation (IDOT) officials, who would play a key role in the
development of a third Chicago-area airport. IDOT would have to lease or
sell the regional airport authority its 4,500 acres of Peotone farmland,
where the airport would be based. 

Will County officials also did not show up to support the plan. The county
has generally been in favor of a south suburban airport, but some board
members remain unconvinced. 

A spokesman for Mayor Richard Daley said the city won't stand in the way of
plans to build a Peotone airport. "He has made his position clear. If they
want to build it, go ahead and build it," the spokesman said. "He's more
concerned with the airports that we have here." 

Mr. Jackson said Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in a recent conversation, said he
supports the project. A spokeswoman for the governor confirmed he is
supportive of a third airport in Peotone, but noted the O'Hare expansion
takes precedence.


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