Good grief. If this is the kind of corporate wealthfare deal that the Allegheny County Airport Authority is about to strike with Irish airline Aer Lingus, somebody should be fired.
But only after they’re forced to push-broom every runway at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) to rid the authority and PIT of the very bad subsidy-happy ju-ju that permeates the Findlay Township facility.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Aer Lingus recently began direct, four-day-a-week flights to Dublin – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, March through December – out of Indianapolis International Airport.
And the public will pay dearly.
According to the Business Journal’s Cate Charron:
“Aer Lingus [is receiving] an incentive package with contributions from the Indianapolis Airport Authority, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) and the City of Indianapolis.
“The IEDC will provide $17 million in annual support, while the airport, over a two-year period, will provide about $2 million a year in credits and advertising, [Airport Authority Executive Director Mario] Rodriguez said.
“The city’s stake in the contract was not immediately available,” the Business Journal reported.
This is a stunningly obscene deal, particularly when you consider all the happy talk officials are spouting.
To wit:
Rodriguez “estimates the route will fly at 80 percent to 90 percent capacity once demand stabilizes after launch.”
But it should not be up to the general public, through what’s at least nearly $20 million in subsidies, to “stabilize demand.” That should be up to the ticket-purchasing flying public.
Aer Lingus has no business offloading a business risk on the public that it alone must bear, ethically or morally. And these government entities certainly have no business whatsoever in accepting that risk transfer on behalf of the public that it expects to pay for it.
Then there’s this, from David Rosenberg, Indiana’s secretary of State:
“Indiana’s economy has been on an unprecedented trajectory of growth,” he said. “Our partners in Ireland and Europe have been a significant part of the growth we’ve experienced. This new trans-Atlantic route will only add to that growth and open up Indiana to vast new opportunities.”
So, shouldn’t that translate into a pretty darn good bolus of immediate demand for these Aer Lingus flights? Why in the world should there be any public subsidies for these flights, even on an interim basis?
Airport boss Rodriguez has the temerity to rationalize the public incentives, calling them small in comparison to the airline’s annual operating costs of between $60 million and $80 million annually.
But, again, the public – other than ticket-buying passengers – has no business paring Aer Lingus’ operating costs.
That anyone thinks it does – whether it’s an airline or a government agency – is insane.
But Aer Lingus is getting such deals nationwide. And airport authorities around the country are cutting them like drunken sailors during Fleet Week.
Engaging in what by any other measure is succumbing to extortion and/or engaging in bribery in the name of “public policy” is a vice that must no longer be tolerated.
If the Allegheny County Airport Authority and Pittsburgh International Airport are next up in such a charade, those responsible — from the CEO to a board of directors known for its rubber-stamping — should have a lot of runway sweeping to do.
Before they’re shown the door, that is.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
