What's The Deal With Airport Privatization In St. Louis?

For more than a year, city officials and an army of consultants have been exploring the possibility of leasing St. Louis Lambert International Airport to a private entity.

Conversations about leasing the city’s largest public asset began during former St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay’s time in office. But the official exploration process started in June of 2018, when the city hired a consultant group called FLY314, a subsidiary of Grow Missouri, Inc. The political action committee is funding the effort thus far.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske explored where things stand and what happens next with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Corinne Ruff.

“Right now, what's been happening is several meetings [about] sort of preliminary negotiations with airlines. So they have to make sure that most of the airlines are on board with this before they even continue the process,” Ruff said. “There's also just finalizing all of the legal jargon that has to go into a [request for qualifications] to make sure that this is actually what the city wants.”

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/whats-deal-airport-privatization-st-louis