Susan Shea has a message to all the opponents and pessimists who don’t think the South Suburban Airport ever will be built near Peotone.
“To the naysayers, this is it. The FAA would not tell us this is the preferred place. This is where it’s going to be,” Shea said. “... It’s going to be such an economic engine for the community out there, for the state. It is going to happen. It’s just a matter of when. It’s not a matter anymore of if.”
The airport project is under Shea’s watch as director of the aeronautics division for the Illinois Department of Transportation. The project was among several infrastructure topics discussed Friday during a meeting of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corp. at Glenwoodie Golf Course in Glenwood.
Construction of the airport would take three years, but she declined to say when it may begin.
"Director of Aeronautics Division of the Illinois Department of Aviation?" That's a hell of a business card. And she's sure that she is going to get a few billion dollars from a state that's already something like $80 billion in the hole in order to fund an airport that every major carrier has said they don't want and have no plans to use.