Cargo Plan Sought For MidAmerica Airport
Service Won't Hurt St. Louis-Lambert
BELLEVILLE, IL (May 28, 2000) -- Public and airport officials from Illinois and Missouri met last week in Washington, D.C., to hammer out a plan to promote cargo service at MidAmerica Airport without jeopardizing Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
While the participants were reluctant to talk about the outcome of the meeting, most agreed the St. Louis region would be better served by two active airports.
"The purpose of the meeting was to reinforce the commitment of all parties to achieve for this region the best possible mix of aviation assets," Lambert Director Leonard Griggs said in a prepared statement.
The meeting included U.S. Reps. Richard Gephardt D-St. Louis, and Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, along with St. Clair County Board Chairman John Baricevic and Griggs.
The talks come amid rumors that St. Clair County may be close to a deal with an airline for gates at MidAmerica Airport. Since the airport opened in May 1998, St. Clair County has been unable to attract an airline carrier to the airport.
Costello confirmed the meeting had taken place, but declined to comment on whether MidAmerica Airport is close to landing an airline tenant. Baricevic said the county is talking to three companies interested in gates at MidAmerica Airport that look promising, but declined to reveal which airlines were interested.
"This is not about doing favors for MidAmerica Airport," Baricevic said. "This is about taking advantage of the major trend in cargo services and keeping jobs in the St. Louis metroeast region."
St. Clair County officials hope MidAmerica Airport will benefit from increasing congestion problems at Lambert. One way Lambert officials are addressing the problem is to refuse to allow cargo carriers to expand their operations.
"There is no more ground capacity at Lambert," Baricevic said. "Griggs is not encouraging expansion of new cargo carriers to Lambert or expansion of the existing ones. I am confident that Lambert is telling cargo carriers about the opportunities at MidAmerica. They want the region to succeed."
Studies on MidAmerica Airport as early as 1992 projected the airport initially would serve cargo carriers. Officials still hope to expand service to include passenger service and other airport related businesses.
The meeting comes on the heels of a change in federal aviation rules that lifted flight restrictions at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Now, O'Hare is required to make slots available to any regional airline if the plane is coming from a smaller, underutilized airport, such as MidAmerica Airport. The bill was sponsored by Costello.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
Marilyn Vise Article
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