A sad day for Chicago aviation

[MarkRG]

This is somewhat of a vent but it is a sad statment on how the city is run.

Woke up to the morning news that Meigs Field has been destroyed. For those that don't know, Meigs was a private aviation field on the lakefront of Chicago. It has had a controversial history of late as the mayor(king?) of Chicago has been pushing for at least the last 5-10 years to close it to turn it into parkland to fit into his 'museum campus'. He wants to make a lasting memorial to himself. I hope the city loses even more big buisness over this, as they did use it regularly. I wonder what Boeing's opinion is on this considering all the effort he did to lure them here.

I fully expect a press conference this morning with him hiding behind the excuse of homeland security to take this action. Very bad form on the part of his lordship in taking this action to get his way.

My hope is the FAA comes down on him hard for this.

And, in the view of homeland security, the nearest any equipment could be landed, IF, heaven forbid, some kind of event happened in downtown would be Midway or O'hare, way too far away to be an immediate effective help.

Just really sad to me as an aviation buff.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I heard that today also, Mark. I was under the impression that the extension to not end the field was longer than this. Guess not. I too think it is a big mistake, Meigs was a real jewel for the lakefront.

 

[FINFAN]

I knew Mayor Daley had been pushing for this, but did not know it was a done deal...we always park as close to meigs field as we can when we visit the Shedd or Field museums....to enjoy the various aircraft activities for a bit. What a shame. There are going to be quite a few(wealthy) commuters who will not be happy about this, not to mention several movie-types who appreciated the privacy this little airstrip offered.

 

[MarkRG]

Yes Dan, there was an agreement in place that was supposed to keep it open indefinitely that's tied to the O'Hare reconstruction, expect that deal to evaporate and the whole aviation thing around here to get muddied a LOT further, not that it needed much help to go that way. But this is sure to push the whole plan into oblivion. That's too bad, the airlines have enough problems, didn't need Daley making it even harder for them.

He did it with no warning whatsoever, on a Sunday night when he was sure there wouldn't be anyone available to object to it.

 

[cgcw]

I can't believe they did this overnight, with no forewarning to those who have their planes still sitting there. How are those people going to get them out of there now. And, if it was "in the best interest" of someone/something, why was it done in the middle of the night. Very sad.

 

[MarkRG]

The running rumour on that one is they left the taxiway intact for the purpose of letting the planes takeoff.

To do this in the stealthy manner he did is a really bad commentary on the way he operates. Is there no system in place that if he gives an order that goes against the rules to stop it from happening? What will he do next?

I think the worst part of this isn't just the loss of Meigs itself, but the fact it's going to destroy all the deals for the airport work that the city and the state agreed on that all were tied to Meigs staying open. The airlines really didn't need Daley making things worse for them than it already is.