In the next few weeks the federal legislation to push the expansion of O’Hare International Airport likely will come before the U.S. Senate. Sen. Dick Durbin believes he has enough private commitments to halt a filibuster threatened by Illinois’ other senator, Peter Fitzgerald.
This bill codifies the watershed agreement reached last year by Gov. George Ryan and Mayor Richard Daley to bring O’Hare into the 21st Century–something that had been stymied for two decades. The bill means a future governor or a future mayor can’t derail the expansion. It sailed out of the Senate Commerce Committee with bipartisan support.
Fitzgerald ought to concede defeat–better yet, he ought to acknowledge that this project is critical to the prosperity of Illinois and essential to providing O’Hare with the capacity to handle future needs.
But he will not. So, this is addressed to the other 99 senators.
Fitzgerald has circulated a letter to his brethren seeking to persuade them to oppose the O’Hare bill. In it, he calls the O’Hare expansion plan “unsafe” and Durbin’s bill “reckless.” The letter is filled with unsupported charges.
Fitzgerald argues that the bill would usurp the power and nullify the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration, and would dictate runway design and layout. Fitzgerald also charges the plan favors United and American at the expense of all other airlines. He tells senators that if they agree to this, it will use up all the money meant for other airport projects–“including those in your state,” Fitzgerald helpfully adds in case anyone missed his point.
None of that is true.
It is true O’Hare plays a unique role in the nation’s aviation system, which is why this isn’t simply a local problem. It is true that Congress–and the Senate specifically–threatened to force expansion if the city and state couldn’t resolve this long-standing political stalemate. It is true that federal action is necessary because localized diehard opposition still exists.
To make sure the rest of the Senate comes to this vote armed with the facts, let’s set the record straight.
The FAA has the final say.
The legislation doesn’t force the FAA to do anything. The runway configuration plan will only move forward, the bill specifically states, if the FAA determines it “meets federal aviation criteria regarding practicality, safety and efficiency and is consistent with FAA design criteria.”
The FAA is not going to approve this plan unless it is safe. Period.
The bill’s concept is endorsed by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association and five former U.S. secretaries of transportation, the AFL-CIO and the business community. They believe it is safe. But unless the FAA rules it’s safe, it won’t happen.
No airline gains an advantage.
Fitzgerald charges in his letter that the bill “attempts to confer a competitive advantage on two specific airlines (United and American) by permitting O’Hare airport authorities to condemn the gates of all other carriers (such as Continental, Delta and Northwest) and force them to cramped, inferior facilities.”
Two amendments added in committee preclude that. One specifically protects the property rights of other airlines serving O’Hare and the other specifically encourages competition and new entrants into the market.
O’Hare doesn’t automatically get money.
Contrary to Fitzgerald’s assertions that passage of the bill drains money from all other airport projects, Durbin points out that the bill specifically states that O’Hare receives no priority over other airports.
Those are the facts, senators. This legislation is necessary. It’s in the nation’s interest. It deserves your support.
