The Mayor's office yesterday sent out a press release about moving air freight operations away from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The press release ignores a couple of major problems- First we are NOT land banking for a new airport, an airport that will be needed even if the current expansion program continues as we will run out of land on which to expand. The current airport is bordered by a river and a couple of major highways. The chances of either the river or major highways moving is virtually nil. We do continue to expand the airport. As I write this new air freight facilities are being built on the west side of the airport and construction has begun on a new runway. >From the Rybak press release on the St. Cloud Airport: Mayor Rybak meets with St. Cloud Mayor on Airport Issues Group Seeks "Win-Win" on Increase in Air Cargo Traffic <snip> "The airline industry is bouncing back strongly after September 11 and MSP [the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport] is quickly running out of capacity. Meanwhile, St. Cloud and other regional centers are looking to expand airport service in their areas. The potential for a win-win result cannot be overlooked," Rybak said. [Terrell] Losers would include the air freight industry that would need to truck everything for an hour and a half up to St. Cloud (maybe 3 hours during severe winter weather) with the same amount of time on the road for inbound freight. These companies are currently building new facilities at MSP which will be a strong push toward not moving. It's interesting that the air cargo industry is not listed among the groups invited to the meeting. Shippers and receivers also lose. The time to transport to and from St. Cloud gets included in the time they need for shipment, either get it done sooner, get it later or pay to send it by courier or charter (big bucks). [Mayor's press release] Doyle emphasized that air cargo access is essential for Minnesota to compete in a global economy. "Just-in-time" business demands means such access includes 48 hours or less cargo service to and from worldwide locations. Currently Minnesota air cargo takes four to six days to access international locations, whether from MSP or sent via Chicago. Approximately 200 metro area trucks per week travel to Chicago to get access to their international air cargo hub. [Terrell] I worked in the air charter business for 3 years. That statement is misleading. Air freight comes in various degrees of time critical. If you need it right now, you charter a plane. This is the real emergency stuff. You need it now because you need to shut down a manufacturing plant if its not there. You don't want to need to send everybody home because you are missing a part. There is a whole industry that supplies the need for "on demand" air charter. Sometimes you can ship on a commercial flight (given the restrictions have changed in the last 9 months) or use an overnight carrier. Other times you ship by air because you need it before a boat will arrive. The first domestic destination may be selected for best customs availability. The trucks between here and Chicago are a straw man. There is no airplane in the world that can land in Chicago that can't land in Minnesota (MSP, Duluth or Rochester). The put it on the truck because it gets it here on time and its cheaper ... emphasis is in getting it here on time. [Mayor's press release] "What we're pursuing is not a silver bullet solution to long-term airport capacity problems at MSP, but an incremental step that will push us in the direction of a much-needed statewide aviation strategy. We're losing a huge amount of air cargo business to Chicago, and all of Minnesota will benefit from bringing that business back here in a responsible way. This is about proactive development-building for the competitive Minnesota we want 20 to 30 years from now." Rybak said. [Terrell] This is another patchwork fix. That's my nice evaluation. Unlike passengers, freight is willing to fly at night. Much of the freight traffic takes place well away from air traffic daily peaks. This is a way to extend the life of the current airport in its current location. A better proactive step would be to start the process of land banking for a new airport. Most people will agree that the current airport will run out of space, the question is more "when?" Met Council Chair Ted Mondale led the charge to stop the dual track airport study a few years ago and has backed himself into the same corner as the airlines who have large investments at the current MSP. There are a whole bunch of reasons to start land banking for a new airport. Taken in total they provide good support. Individually those reasons won't build the support. Patchwork strategies as were suggested yesterday only cut into the foundation of land banking support. Terrell Brown Loring Park terrell at terrellbrown dot org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? 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