On Wednesday of this week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to address the aviation community in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Queen City is the first stop on a four airport tour to allegedly address airline safety. Damascus Dispatch has obtained a preliminary draft of his speech and found that Buttigieg plans to discuss runway equity instead.
The draft document begins, “While runway safety is important, and I have staff working on that, I’d like to take this moment to address a far more critical issue and that is runway equity.” The document goes on to explain how runway locations are systemically discriminating against minorities, women & children, and the LgbTq+n community. The argument posits that runways are located too far from these marginalized groups. One way to address the issue is to locate runways closer to communities in need.
Buttigieg proposes a fifth runway at Charlotte-Douglass International Airport. The runway would be created by repurposing a section of I-77 near Charlotte’s historic Fourth Ward. The location was chosen because of its proximity to the Greyhound bus station and Johnson C. Smith University, a recognized HBCU. The interstate would be blocked off during take-offs and landings and automobile traffic would be re-routed through Elmwood and Pinewood Cemetaries. Charlotte City Council is expected to embrace the idea and implement it as soon as possible.