In Case You Missed It - Charlotte Airport Hot Mess

After months of CP's screaming into the wind about the Jerry Orr vs. Rodney Monroe turf war, the Charlotte Observer picked up the scent and did what newspapers should do, investigate.

In today's paper reporters Ely Portillo and Steve Harrison dig into CMPD and CDIA emails and discover that the "Emails show months of bitter bickering between airport, city officials"

Cedar's Take: D'oh!

"The hundreds of emails between airport officials and police, obtained in a public records request, reveal that both sides have been busy documenting that the other is a poor choice for policing the airport.
Airport officials have compiled complaints about CMPD officers, including allegations of slow response times and photos of groups of officers eating together in the concourse. US Airways, the airport’s biggest tenant, has complained about CMPD and the more than 100 percent increase in the cost for officers."

While the turf war rages on, none of this should be a surprise to anyone. Cedar Posts has for months pressed the view that Jerry Orr - Curt Walton - Rodney Monroe was a dysfunctional at best arrangement. Regardless of which of the 3 is the root cause of the infighting the real blame falls squarely on the dais of the Charlotte City Council which seldom if ever is aware of how poorly things are being run at the airport.

The infighting and lack of oversight by Charlotte's City Council is a potent argument for removing control from the city and creating an Airport Authority to manage the monster that Jerry Orr has created in West Charlotte.

Cedar's Take: The burgeoning behemoth with its ever expanding flight patterns and noise has drastically reduced the quality of life for much of Charlotte's residents. Until recently the only aircraft noise I have heard in my back yard was a very rare CMPD helo overhead. Now for some reason my home of the last 20 years is on an approach pattern for one of Charlotte's 4 runways. The train of aircraft in the early evening is continuous and troubling.

Jerry Orr and his alliance with USAirways has built an airport that is absurdly large for a city the size of Charlotte. The "too big to fail" operation needs new oversight and management now!

The complete story from the Charlotte Observer is here.