More Good News for Aviation in Missouri

State and Local Government |
By David Stokes | Read Time 1 minute

Thanks to former intern (and current staff member) extraordinaire Audrey Spalding for finding this piece on aviation in Columbia. It seems that Delta Airlines is having enough success serving the Columbia market that it is foregoing a tax subsidy for which it is eligible. I am fascinated by the airline industry and its status as the quintessential oligopoly. (Please don’t take my link to the Consumer Federation report as an indicator that I am in total agreement; it is just an interesting viewpoint.) I also love the line from Up In The Air where George Clooney discusses the historic significance of Lambert Airport. But I digress. … 

It is exciting that the private commercial airport in Branson is expanding its operations; it is also exciting that at least some airline service in mid-Missouri can be operated at a profit without government support. Here is to hoping for much more of both!

About the Author

David Stokes is a St. Louis native and a graduate of Saint Louis University High School and Fairfield (Conn.) University. He spent six years as a political aide at the St. Louis County Council before joining the Show-Me Institute in 2007. Stokes was a policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute from 2007 to 2016. From 2016 through 2020 he was Executive Director of Great Rivers Habitat Alliance, where he led efforts to oppose harmful floodplain developments done with abusive tax subsidies. Stokes rejoined the Institute in early 2021 as the Director of Municipal Policy. He is a past president of the University City Library Board. He served on the St. Louis County 2010 Council Redistricting Commission and was the 2012 representative to the Electoral College from Missouri’s First Congressional District. He lives in University City with his wife and their three children.

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