Fattah's plan: Lease airport
He would use the proceeds of the deal to reduce the city's child poverty rate.
By Michael Currie Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writer

Mayoral candidate Chaka Fattah wants to lease out Philadelphia International Airport and use the proceeds to fund an ambitious initiative to slash the city's child poverty rate.

Fattah, a U.S. congressman, is to unveil the idea, part of a plan he calls his "opportunity agenda," this morning. He said in an interview yesterday that the agenda would also include proposals to reduce business and wage taxes, as well as details about how to pay for the many new programs he has promised on the campaign trail.

Under Fattah's proposal, the airport would be leased to a for-profit firm, an arrangement Fattah estimated would generate $3 billion. After retiring the debt on the airport, he estimated, the city would have nearly $2 billion left to finance the new social programs.