Privitazation of Midway Airport

from today's Crain's Chicago Business

Midway privatization plan hits a bump
By Paul Merrion
April 02, 2007

"Southwest Airlines Co. and other carriers are balking at Chicago's plan to lease Midway Airport to a private operator, putting the brakes on the high-profile deal and the billions it could bring to city coffers.

Concerns raised about the plan have pushed back the timetable for requests for potential bidders, a process the city was hoping to begin last month so that a deal could close by the end of this year." ....

"Leasing Midway, which could fetch as much as $3 billion, is extremely important for Mayor Richard M. Daley, who hopes for a cash windfall to bolster the city's underfunded pension plans and to pay for infrastructure repairs and upkeep. The idea is similar to the agreement to lease the Chicago Skyway in late 2004, which reaped $1.8 billion.

City officials have tried to sell the airlines on the proposal by projecting cost savings over a 20-year period, presuming a private firm can run the airport more efficiently and pass those savings on to the carriers." ........

for complete article see: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?post_date=2007-04-02&id=24441