Illinois pilots go to war for Clow Airport in Bolingbrook

A group of neighbors near Clow Airport in Bolingbrook Illinois decided that they do not like the sound of airplanes. They complained to the city.
However, area pilots are defending their right to fly and use the local public airport.
After Meigs Field was destroyed in the middle of the night, Illinois pilots are very sensitive to threats to public airports. When millions of dollars of tax money is paid by pilots to reserve these small slices of land for aviation safety. The American public has determined that travel by aircraft is a fundamental freedom. People want trained and capable pilots to deliver them safely from start to finish.
As we have seen, pilots can sometimes be in short supply. When the traveling public is ready to move, they demand that airlines have the personnel ready to carry them where they want to go. And American needs public airports with flight schools to train them.
Clow Airport, southwest of Chicago, is home to a couple flight schools. Maintaining a flight school in this economy is not an easy task. Owners of these schools work tirelessly to protect their students and keep their aircraft in top condition. Aircraft are not getting cheaper. Repairs costs are way up.
With new neighborhoods crowding longtime airports, there are always a few folks that do not understand how important flight training is. For different reasons, they lash out at small independent businesses and can hurt the reputation of safe and productive businesses.
This explains why tonight’s meeting of the Bolingbrook Village Board was packed and standing room only with pilots standing shoulder-to-shoulder lining the walls. Many pilots spoke out in favor of the airport.