LAX proposal won’t fly

Re “A cash cow with wings,” Opinion, March 23

I don’t know what brand of jet fuel Greg Nelson is inhaling, but what planet is he on with his belief that there is less corruption in private business? The reason the Los Angeles International Airport works is because it is owned and operated by the city, and the federal law that protects the income from being used outside the fence keeps the place flying. And please, give the guy an economics lesson on the cost of Europe’s concept of privatization, especially when those transportation infrastructures are so much more efficient than on this side of the pond. What may be good for Chicago’s Midway Airport (watch, the city will take it back in five years) may not be good for Los Angeles. They’re into meat and potatoes, and here the cooking is vegetarian.

Mark Shapiro

Los Angeles

Giving a monopoly to a private firm? Service can be cut to a minimum to maximize returns? That Nelson cites London’s Heathrow International Airport as an example demonstrates his lack of knowledge. Heathrow is notorious for lost luggage, a customer service desk that does little more than provide bathroom and restaurant directions and a cavernous and overcrowded waiting area surrounded by overpriced shops and $15 hamburger eateries where you are trapped until gate numbers are announced 40 minutes before flight time. Locals aptly refer to Heathrow as “Deathrow.”

This result of a monopoly points out the absurdity of privatization.

Don Bodnar

Northridge