"No Guys... We Won't Need The Bulldozers For This One..."

When it comes to pumping more money into Chicago coffers, no idea is too far-fetched to be off the table... including selling off the city's second-busiest airport.

"This is thinking outside of the box," Chicago chief financial officer Dana Levenson told the Chicago Tribune, regarding leasing Midway International Airport to a third party. "Does it end up in a transaction? We don't know. Yet, we have to be considering any and all possibilities."

Saturday, Mayor Richard Daley (right) talked publicly about the deal, telling Chicago's CBS-2 it's just one of many ideas on the table to bring badly-needed funds to the city.

"You have city parking lots, garages (at) Midway Airport; you have other public assets that if you sell them, you can re-invest the money into the communities," Daley said. "What we've asked the General Assembly to do is to give us the option to look at it."

That option would appear to be close at hand. Last week, the Illinois state senate passed a bill maintaining Midway's property tax-exempt status -- which makes leasing out the airport a viable idea. The bill, which would also give the same status to five city-owned parking garages, as well as (wait for it) three city waste sorting and transfer stations -- is now awaiting a vote before the state House of Representatives.

State Representative Robert Molaro, whose district includes those living around the airport, said he believes privatizing Midway is unlikely.

"As you go to money-crunching in government, you have to look at everything," Molaro said. "So I don't mind (the city's study of the issue). I just don't see how they can do it."

Even if the deal is approved and the city begins moving towards selling all-or-part of Midway off to private operators, Levenson said it could take years to complete the necessary transactions.

While the idea continues to gain traction in other parts of the world, so far only one large commercial airport in the US has been sold to a private company, after restrictions on the practice were eased in 2000. Stewart International Airport, located 55 miles north of New York City, is owned by National Express Group.

The US subsidiary of a British transportation company, National Express has a 99-year lease on the airport, which paid the State of New York $35 million.

FMI: www.chicago-mdw.com, www.nationalexpress.com, www.stewartintlairport.com