CHICAGO-Mayor Rahm Emanuel has decided to shelve plans at least for now to privatize Midway Airport here.
After selecting two finalists to manage the airport, Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton announced on Thursday that because one firm had withdrawn interest in the project in the last day or two the mayor decided not to move forward with the privatization process.
"The mayor said all along he wanted this to be a competitive process in order to get the best possible deal for the citizens of Chicago," Hamilton said. "With only one company left, that wasn't the case."
The remaining company vying to operate Midway Airport was the Great Lakes Airport Alliance—a partnership of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Ferrovial, according to the Chicago Tribune. The firm that backed out of the bidding was a partnership of Industry Funds Management and Manchester Airports Group, sources told the newspaper.
A portion of the proceeds from a 99-year lease of the airport would have gone to pay off approximately $1.4 billion in Midway debt. The remainder would have been spent on infrastructure projects or been used to help lower the city's pension liabilities. See story in the Chicago Tribune.
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