Chicago Midway Airport Privatisation: Anatomy of a US airport lease

Just as with a bus, you wait 17 years for an airport privatisation to come along, one breaks down then you find two come at once.

That encapsulates the story of the US' 1996 pilot Airport Privatization Program, which, after five years in the doldrums, suddenly sprang back to life in late Feb-2013 with the conclusion of the lease transaction on Puerto Rico's San Juan Luis Munoz Marin Airport and with the completion of the RfQ (Request for Quotations) procedure on the second attempt to privatise Chicago Midway Airport.

Both of these events imply that life is returning to the US' Airport Privatization Program, not surprisingly in light of the sequestration that is currently taking place, and due to the struggle between the Obama (Democrat) administration and the Republican majority in Congress to reach a political consensus on deficit reduction. Meanwhile, Airports Council International estimates the US airport system needs investments of USD14.3 billion annually until 2017.