"MidAmerica Airport set to take off?"

Monday, November 26, 2007

MidAmerica Airport set to take off?
By Shane Graber
The St. Louis (MO) Post-Dispatch


MASCOUTAH - Beverly Byrd knew the airport was out here. And that's about all
she knew. Her travel friend, Verlinda Williams, was even more in the dark.

"I had never heard of it," Williams said. "I can't believe it's 10 years
old."

And with that simple observation, a group of four North St. Louis County
women heading to Las Vegas for a long weekend summed up the MidAmerica St.
Louis Airport's decade-long history here. 

Many travelers don't know there's a commercial airport here. Those who do
don't know much about it.

Since it opened 10 years ago this month, MidAmerica has struggled to gain
momentum. Some industry analysts say the airport was a political fiasco, a
boondoggle that never should have been built. But supporters say MidAmerica
business is about to pick up.

MidAmerica cost $313 million in 1997. St. Clair County put in $30 million,
the state $60 million and the U.S. government the rest. Built on 4,500 acres
of farm fields along Interstate 64, MidAmerica boasted a convenient location
with little traffic. It would offer plenty of free parking and security. 

A 1997 St. Clair County report predicted that MidAmerica, which is owned by
the county, could be serving 1.1 million passengers a year by 2000. 

MidAmerica was supposed to be a reliever airport and take some of the strain
off what used to be a busy Lambert Airport, which in the 1990s was a hub
anchored by Trans World Airlines. 

Construction began without the commitment of a single tenant. 

"Reason for concern?" John Baricevic, the St. Clair County chairman, wrote
in a Post-Dispatch guest editorial. "Not at all."

A grand opening was held Nov. 8, 1997, but a VIP dinner had to be canceled
because the airport's $8.7 million terminal building wasn't finished. Off to
a dubious start, more bad luck hit.

TWA was acquired by American Airlines, which later pulled half of its
flights out of Lambert, 9/11 discouraged air travel, and Lambert built
another $1.1 billion runway. 

The county even decided in 2004 to cut back on expenses by killing the
interior lights during slow times.

Michael Boyd, an aviation industry adviser, worried 10 years ago that the
airport wouldn't succeed. 

"Now it's a good example for the nation to look at and avoid in the future,"
Boyd said. "The fact is there was no compelling reason to build that
airport."

St. Clair County Board member Frank Heiligenstein, a 31-year political
veteran, made the motion to build MidAmerica. A decade later, he's uncertain
it was a good idea.

"I would say that MidAmerica has never achieved the goals that we had set,"
he said.

Knowing what he knows today, would he still build it?

"That would have been questionable," he said.

Today, MidAmerica's operating budget costs the county about $3.1 million a
year. But the airport has enjoyed some success, Heiligenstein said. 

"We would not even be talking about Scott Air Force Base if MidAmerica had
not been built," Heiligenstein said.

Airport director Tim Cantwell said MidAmerica's runway and air tower likely
made the base more essential to the military. The two facilities have
benefited from a joint operation agreement, one that Cantwell says is about
to become even more lucrative.

The agreement allows the two groups to share costs and services. A new
agreement is expected to save the county $700,000 by allowing use of the
military's fire rescue operation.

Still, Cantwell acknowledges that the local industry's landscape is
different now, and MidAmerica will never be a reliever to Lambert. So
Cantwell is focusing on other areas.

A burgeoning international air cargo industry, which Cantwell said the
airport is ideal for, will allow MidAmerica to enjoy a 10-fold bump in
business over the next year. 

As of Wednesday, the airport had serviced 648 tons of cargo this year.
Cantwell promised that the airport would handle 6,480 tons of cargo next
year.

"The more activity is happening, the more the economy is churning," he said.
"It's real fun. We're going to build a market here. . We want to be the
USA's portal to the world."

Boyd isn't as hopeful.

"There's nothing to turn around. You've built something that isn't needed."

Today the airport has one passenger airline, Allegiant, which offers flights
to Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla. It's mostly quiet during the day. It picks up
a bit a couple of hours before a flight.

Either way, the group heading to Las Vegas was impressed.

Verlinda Williams, 70, had never flown before in her life. But just prior to
boarding, the experience wasn't so bad.

"It's cheap, it's clean, it's not real crowded," Williams said. "It just
seems safe."



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