[JYO] City of Chicago suddenly tears up the Meigs Field runway, stranding 16 planes

Not local to Leesburg, but important to the aviation community as a whole...

Ed

- - -
from AOPA...

Mayor Daley bulldozes Chicago's Meigs Field



City of Chicago suddenly tears up the Meigs Field runway, stranding some 16 
aircraft.   
Update: Mar. 31 — Sneaking in under the cover of darkness, city of Chicago 
construction crews began tearing up the runway at Meigs Field this morning at 
about 1:30 a.m. There was no advance warning, not even to the FAA. Some 16 
aircraft are stranded on the field. A city source told the Chicago media that 
the "airport is closed for good" for "homeland security reasons."

"We are absolutely shocked and dismayed," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. 
"Mayor Daley has no honor and his word has no value. The sneaky way he did 
this shows that he knows it was wrong."

Boyer immediately fired faxes off to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and 
Transportation Security Administration chief Adm. James M. Loy to discuss 
possible solutions.

"During a period when the country is at war in the Middle East, why must the 
mayor of Chicago also play dictator with a most valuable airport and cause 
additional turmoil inside our own country?" asked Boyer.

"While federal and state airport laws may not have been broken by this 
action, <A HREF="http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2001/01-4-202.html";>in 
December 2001</A> he pledged to keep the airport open, in support of 
federal legislation that granted him expansion of O'Hare airport. The mayor 
has broken his promise not only to the citizens of his own city, but also to 
the pilots of America.

"We will once again explore the legality of this action, but past research 
indicates that the law hasn't been broken," Boyer continued. "However, we're 
not going to allow the mayor to hide behind the fiction of 'homeland 
security' for his reprehensible action."

(To see the damage already done to Meigs field, visit <A 
HREF="http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/";>
www.adlerplanetarium.org</A> and select Sky Eye Cam and then Meigs under 
"select 
a view.")

The city's actions caught everyone by surprise. Despite Mayor Richard M. 
Daley's penchant for publicity, the news media was caught off guard. The FAA 
was not able to issue a notam on the closing until hours after the fact.

In fact, FAA is looking into fining the city for violations of FAR Part 157, 
which requires advance notice of the deactivation, discontinuance, or 
abandonment of an airport or any landing or takeoff area of an airport for 
period of one year or more.

The Meigs control tower had no idea about the closing. Closing the airport 
also closes the tower, which monitored the airspace near downtown Chicago. 
Ironically, while Daley frequently complains "nobody knows anything about 
those airplanes flying near Chicago," closing the tower means that there is 
now no air traffic control exercised over aircraft flying along the 
lakefront.

AOPA's Legislative Affairs office reports that even some members of the 
Illinois congressional delegation were caught unawares, particularly 
interesting since those members of Congress had been working with Mayor Daley 
on legislation that would preserve Meigs and expand O'Hare International 
Airport. As late as Friday afternoon, AOPA was in discussions with key 
staffers from the Illinois delegation concerning that legislation.

The action surprised the Meig's Field FBO. When they asked the city what 
would happen to the aircraft trapped at the field, the FBO was told, "That's 
your problem." However, AOPA's Midwest Regional Representative Bill Blake 
reports that the stranded aircraft may be allowed to depart using the taxiway 
sometime this week.

Chicago Mayor Daley had sought to close Meigs until a year ago, when an 
historic agreement between the city and the State of Illinois "guaranteed" 
the airport's survival for 25 years. Daley gave his word that he would not 
seek to close Meigs in exchange for support for his plan to expand O'Hare 
International Airport and build a new airport at Peotone.

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