We chatted the other day with the head of the Vancouver airport unit that's leading the buyout of Midway Airport in Chicago, the biggest airport privatization effort to date. George Casey, who's the chief executive of YVR Airport Services, the big airport operator, said he's just very glad to have won the bidding against. We hear was up against some other very well-known names in airport finance, including, we're told, Macquarie, Hochtief, and Aeroports de Paris. Midway can't be expanded because it's surrounded on four sides by highways and railroads, but Casey says its efficiency will grow and capacity will be increased. Out in Chicago, they're already predicting $8 pretzels and $10 beers at the Midway concessions, but Casey is adamant that this is not to be the case. He notes that Midway's airline tenants agreed to terms of the deal, and those tenants include some carriers that are very focused on low fares and so on low costs, including Southwest, the largest at Midway and an airline noted for its hard-nosed real estate department, as well as AirTran. "The airlines would not have agreed if the costs were going to be too high. Midway has to stay competitive," he says.
The city and the investors agreed to a 25-year agreement with those airlines now at Midway, capping their rates and charges at the outset and freezing them for six years. Rate increases after that would be pegged to the inflation rate. Casey says, "We're very comfortable that the mayor and the city worked out consumer protections."
Interestingly, other cities are talking more about raising funds through infrastructure sales, but the FAA will only allow one airport the size of Midway to enter its privatization pilot program. And one has to wonder where the money to buy airports and other infrastructure would come from these days anyway.
Although other US airports have considered privatization, and New York's Stewart was briefly owned by National Express, a UK-based firm, Midway will be the first large airport to leave public control. National Express turned Stewart, in Newburgh, NY, over to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey late last year and other airports that applied under an FAA pilot program all withdrew or ended their applications. The first was Brown Field Municipal, San Diego, which pulled out in 2001, and Niagara Falls International and the Rafael Hernandez airport in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. These both withdrew in 2001 and New Orleans Lakefront Airport ended its application earlier this year.
Sorry for the huge review, but I'm really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it's the right choice for you.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod's. It works well, but isn't as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that's not an issue, but if you're planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod's larger screen and better browser may be important.
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nice to see I'm not the only one who thought of that
Hey, may I ask when you put this site up? because on the top it says 2011, but we are in 2010. what the he**?
You make blogging look like a walk in the park! I've been trying to blog daily but I just cant find writing material.. you're an inspiration to me and i'm sure many others!
I would like to start my own blog one day. This was a really nice blog that you made here. Keep up the success :P
As the saying goes, inside the guru's head there aren't many scenarios, however , for a person with a rookie's brain, everything is open up.
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It's very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.
Sorry for the huge review, but I'm really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it's the right choice for you.
High quality info here! Keep up the great work. I love the feelings being expressed.
Funny, I was thinking along the same lines. Adam
There is obviously far more to know about it as I expected. I like to stress that you have made some good points in your posting.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post..