Selling our airport is a very bad idea. No major airport in the U.S. is privately owned. St. Louis has no good reason to be the first to sell their airport.
Lambert makes money for STL. If sold, it would be a one-time gain taking Mayor Krewson off the budget hook. Future mayors would have to make up the lost revenue by either cutting services or raising taxes on city residents — or both.
Look at what happened when Chicago sold its tollway. Tolls went up, and the road deteriorated under private ownership. In the case of an airport, landing fees would go up, increasing ticket prices. Some airlines might cease service to STL; others might move to MidAmerica Airport, which would be even worse for Missouri travelers who now use Lambert.
This whole idea, cooked up behind closed doors, smells like a boondoggle for the city and payoffs for some involved.
Steve Wulff
St. Louis
