It has been an on going thing in Illinois that we "need" a third airport in Chicago.
There was at a time 3 airports. O'hare, Midway and Meigs field.
Well Mayor Daley decided in a quote from the Chicago Tribune that Meigs field should be closed and had it demolished at midnight on the night of 03-30-03. He said the city should be protected fom terriosts attacks after 911.
Excuse me Mr. Daley. The only planes that landed there were very small planes for the most part and owned by private people.
The FAA is now suing Chicago for $33,000 but if they prove that it was closed not for the reason of 911 they are seeking 4.5 million.
I think Mayor Daley just cost Chicago a lot of money.
You thoughts?
DEBATE:
Does Chicago need a third airport?
Were Mayor Daley's actions in closing Meigs field justified?

Actually, there are several other smaller airports in the Chicago area other than Meigs field for private aircraft to use so I'm not really sure what the problem is with the FAA. If they are claiming that more General Aviation (probably corporate jets) are using Midway and O'Hare and that's costing them more, it's a bogus claim. The same ATC controllers would be handling traffic into Meigs right up until final approach anyway. Kinda sorry though to see them close it down, I've flown into Meigs and it's a fun airport.

No, Aquilla, the FAA is not saying that it's costing them more money. They are simply saying that they believe they were lied to about the reason for the airport closure, and that the city, in any event, failed to give adequate notice of the closure.

It's a well known "secret" that, after just having built Millennium Park, at a cost of half a billion dollars (no, that's not a misprint), he has been looking at Meigs Field property to build an even bigger, more expansive park there.

But there was a lot of resistance by aviators, and the general public, to closing the airport. Meigs was convenient to business travelers who flew their own planes, because of it's relative proximity to the downtown area.

So, Mayor Daley did what any self-respecting politician would do. He ordered city highway construction equipment to the airport in the middle of the night, where they cut large "x"s into the runway pavement, and cut swaths of concrete across the taxiways, to prevent planes from landing safely.

Daley, at a press conference the next day, suggested that the only reason he closed Meigs was to prevent a private plane or commuter type jet from being used as a terrorist weapon, by saying they were going to land at Meigs and then fly into the city, and hit a building. Never mind the fact that the same could be said of O'Hare and Midway, perhaps even moreso now.