Quote:
Originally Posted by hookem
Unfortunately Spelman's comments were poorly researched. He was using a $$$ amount per charter that the ABIA CEO gave out to the council off the cuff during the meeting... which she herself said was probably wrong. But they kept pressing her to say something... so she said it might have been $9K per plane. Then spelman divided $5.5 million by $9K on the fly and made the statement. ABIA should have had the real number ready.
And what value do we give to the citizens of Austin, having the capability (at least) for transatlantic flights to originate/end in ABIA, and the potential service that might bring to us?
|
ABIA already has the ability to handle transatlantic international flights, just not as many as Formula 1 requested.
Don't blame the Councilman asking the questions, the answers to his questions should have been known by the ABIA CEO, if the ABIA CEO really wanted the allocation of city funds. I would expect that of any city agency, and especially from one being managed by a third party.
Funds for further, permanent ABIA expansion is already planned, although not allocated yet. It's ABIA that wanted to fast track these funds early for an early, unsolicited bid. ABIA should have had all the i's dotted and t's crossed before forwarding the bid to the council.