BULLETIN: Lambert Airport Privatization Effort Abandoned

Date Posted: December 20, 2019

Posted In: News,

In a surprise announcement on Sarah Fenske’s St. Louis on the Air program at noon today (Dec. 20) on St. Louis Public Radio, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson announced that the exploration of privatization for Lambert St. Louis International Airport has been abandoned.

Krewson said that she had been listening to citizens and business interests and realized that the will to proceed did not exist. She said she had ordered that the RFP for privatization not go out. She told Fenske that the privatization effort would not be further pursued.

The Mayor noted that there are over 1,000 acres of land available for development at the airport. She said that the airport needs almost $1 billion in infrastructure improvements and that a new terminal may be needed.

More flights — and particularly international flights to serve STL’s major employers — are needed, she said.

“It comes down to how do you make good jobs for people,”  she said.