The St. Louis Business Journal has reported that the City of St. Louis was warned that their airport privatization advisors were incentivized to push to privatize the airport. The reason for this is they would only be paid if the privatization is successful. Seems logical to me. The airport privatization reminds me of a family that sells their household furniture to pay the monthly bills. Written by Paul Dribin
Former Mayor Slay has been hired by one of the bidders interested in receiving the contract if Lambert Airport is privatized. That appears of course to be a payoff in addition to Jeff Rainford, the Mayor’s former aide who was previously hired as a consultant to the project. I still don’t understand with all the problems the city has the privatization effort appears to be such a high priority. Written by Paul Dribin
This project clearly seems to be moving ahead. I am neutral at this point. The advantages of privatizing the airport seem vague to me at this point. Why do I sense that some politically connected people will benefit? Alderman Cara Spencer has introduced legislation to require a vote of the public before moving ahead. That is probably a good idea. Written by Paul Dribin
My earlier post indicated I was very skeptical of this whole endeavor. My doubts are confirmed by the fact that the Board of Estimate and Review for the city cannot reach agreement on hiring a consultant for moving ahead. Certainly privatization would generate a boatload of money for the city initially, but is it in our long term best interest? Will customer service be negatively affected? Written by Paul Dribin
In theory the St. Louis scheme to privatize Lambert airport could make sense. Of course we may never know because the whole system appears so rigged there will never be an honest evaluation of the pros and cons of the proposal. All the consultants, advisors etc. have a vested interest in making the privatization work. One thought sticks out to me. If the idea was a good one, why have private sector organizations not stepped forward sooner to make the privatization happen? Written by Paul Dribin
St. Louis Mayor, Lyda Krewson made an incredibly stupid comment the other day about airport privatization. She commented that is Lambert International Airport was privatized, more flights would return to Lambert. The Mayor fails to understand that airport size is a function of supply and demand. St. Louis has lost population, that is why flights out of Lambert are down. No organizational or ownership structure will change that. Written by Paul Dribin
The St Louis Contrarian 