Once again, airport service in the Southland has been interrupted by what appears to be too few passengers to keep struggling airlines flying.

SkyValue USA has just announced a suspension of service for the duration of the summer.

The Gary/Chicago International Airport has had nothing but positive headlines in all areas, except for filling planes with people.

Passengers who have flown out of Gary have raved about their experiences, but apparently there just have not been enough of them.

The problem at Gary isn’t attracting airlines. The problem is attracting enough passengers to keep airline profits in the black.

This brings to light the entire premise of capacity in the southern reaches of Chicagoland.

Have the good people of Chicagoland been victims of a hoax? Has a scam been perpetrated upon the public by the political operatives who cared more for their own self-interest than an honest study of airport capacity needs?

As a student of the airport study since 1987, I have seen no evidence of a need for another airport. What I have seen is a frenzied political fervor that is linked to real estate investment, and a wild spending spree to pay for consultants, public relations specialists and political lobbyists. And, there has been a concerted effort to discredit the potential capacity at Gary.

Since the first airport meeting I attended two decades ago, I have never forgotten the empty promises of the words that continue to echo in my head, "equal propensity to travel."

The equal propensity to travel theory was the "assumption" made by consultants Suhail and Marjorie al Chalabi. The two have been responsible for ALL of the numbers related to the South Suburban Airport. They have worked with Peat, Marwick, and Main, the first consultants hired by the South Suburban Mayors and Managers under former Gov. James Thompson’s Build Illinois program. The husband and wife consulting team has worked for two decades as sub-consultants to TAMS, the state’s consultant.

They call their work projections, but it is nothing more than computerized gazing into a crystal ball.

Results are easily manipulated for a desired result. And the numbers that have been produced were used to justify, or manufacture the perceived need for another major airport south of Chicago - a need that has never been corroborated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

What the "equal propensity to travel" theory stated, was that by the year 2010, there would be an equal number of people using air services in the southland as throughout the other portions of the region.

The "equal propensity to travel theory" was an unproven assumption used to justify the viability, necessity, and desirability of another airport.

I think the situation demonstrated by the Gary/Chicago International Airport proves the theory false.

Though the theory justified many assumptions throughout the first airport document, it disappeared in subsequent documents. It was no longer necessary because it helped to satisfy the early goals, to move on to the next phase of study. Decision-makers ignored incorrect information that was never corrected. As famed author George Orwell wrote, "A lie becomes truth if told often enough."

I believe much of the information put out in airport studies was done to offset the unwavering support of Indiana officials for the Gary/Chicago International Airport. That airport can no longer be denied or ignored. It has and continues to receive federal dollars as well as landing fees from Chicago passengers.

Isn’t it time for even South Suburban Airport boosters to recognize the regional potential of an airport at Gary? Despite trying every trick in the book to get their failed idea of a new airport near Peotone to become a reality, shouldn’t they just come clean about airport capacity?

Isn’t it time for all political representatives on both sides of the state line to admit that if airport capacity is going to be provided to those living far south of 63rd and Harlem, it should happen at Gary?

The political wrangling over Peotone vs. Gary has done nothing but deprive two projects of success. Wouldn’t one viable airport be a better solution?

Isn’t it time all of the region and its efforts be focused on providing airport capacity to those they have claimed are underserved? And isn’t it time they take a real look at Gary?