Despite a new blizzard of support for Meigs Field (CGX) using every media, general aviation’s most famous single-runway airport is set to close permanently on February 10 in favor of a bird habitat. The “Great Chicago Meigs Airlift” on Saturday, November 17 attracted only 40 supporters as fly-in conditions were near zero-zero–what Meigs Action Coalition executive director Rachel Goodstein called “worse than pea soup.” In an ironic turn, most attendees flew to suburban Palwaukee and then drove to Meigs.
The fly-in followed a letter of support from 25 aviation and business groups published in the Chicago Sun-Times on November 9, and the delivery of 10,000 pro-Meigs postcards to Chicago Mayor Daley on November 8 by the Meigs Action Coalition. Both the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune suggested a recent softening of support for Meigs by Illinois Gov. George Ryan, with Ryan reportedly calling for a three-year stay for Meigs, rather than his previous stance of permanent support, to negotiate an expansion of O’Hare.
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