OPEN COLUMN
Size, name won’t fix our airport problems

Editor, the Tribune: I am not opposed to eminent domain in principle when it is used judiciously for the good of the whole, but the idea of using this tool to expand Columbia Regional Airport is just terrible. If we had a well-run airport with good service, useful schedules and personnel who had some concept of customer service, that might be another matter. What we have, instead, is a failed enterprise, and the people in charge have never at any time had any clue about why they persistently fail to bring effective air travel service to Boone County and Mid-Missouri.

The problem with Columbia Regional Airport is not its name and is not its size. The problem is it does not offer a service that is worth using.

There aren’t enough flights. Those that exist are not very useful. The service is not reliable. Luggage service is unreliable. Taking private property through eminent domain will solve none of these problems. When our leaders have shown they have some idea about how to run a successful airport, then they can talk about things like eminent domain and catchy names and the like.

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George Rickerson

606 Maplewood Drive

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