Labor Day is the traditional start of US political campaigns and the associated silliness of political speeches.  Evan Sparks’ Aviation Policy Blog pointed to a speech by Barack Obama in which he lauds Chinese investment in travel infrastructure — airports, train systems — and asks “Why aren’t we doing the same thing?”  It’s a good question, if lack of money was the only thing delaying needed improvements in the US.

Let’s look at one example with which Obama should be familiar — the long delay in starting the desperately needed runway expansion of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.  The start of the O’Hare Moderization Program was delayed by competing proposals from two Obama backers — Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley and Obama’s national co-chairman US Rep Jesse Jackson, Jr.  The dispute was all about control of patronage dollars.  Daley wanted to expand O’Hare while Jackson wanted to build a third Chicago airport in the far south suburb of Peotone, IL– run by an airport commission controlled by Jackson’s allies.  The O’Hare program is now delayed by legal fights — one about relocating a 159-year-old cemetary that sits in the middle of a new runways, another about 500 of the 2,500 homes in neighboring suburbs that must be torn down to make way for the new runways.  The O’Hare delays haven’t been about money.  They’ve been about political clout, and allowing citizens to exercise their rights to appeal eminent domain decisions.

Environmental impact statements, citizen NIMBY (not in my back yard) lawsuits, political interference — these are the issues delaying expansion of our airports, not lack of investment.  Will a President Obama reduce environmental regulations, limit citizens’ (and their lawyers’) access to courts, or reign in members of the Democratic-controlled US Congress?  I don’t think so — anymore than a President McCain would.  The point Obama makes earlier in the clip — “[Chinese ]ports, [Chinese] train systems, [Chinese] airports are vastly superior to us now, which means if you are a corporation deciding where to do business, you’re starting to think, ‘Beijing looks like a pretty good option.’” — is exactly on target.  The inability to meet the demand for new transportation capacity impacts our nation’s economic health.  In an earlier podcast episode, we talked about the FAA’s FACT 2 study which predicts 18 airports  and 7 metro areas will need additional capacity by 2015.  Money is important, but it’s not the rate-limiting factor here.  Obama is a smart guy and I’m sure he understands this. I just wish he wouldn’t pander to the silly season’s need for sound bites and instead talk about some real solutions to these real problems.

Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago after a couple of weeks in Thailand and Singapore.  In this episode, I talk about some of my experiences in Asia, including a few travel (mis)adventures. We also talk about losing laptops in airports — comments on a study claiming that 12,000 laptops are lost in airports every week, and thought on one particular lost laptop belonging to the Clear registered traveler program.  And a listener gives his in-flight impressions of Singapore Air’s new A380. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.

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