Letter to the editor: History lesson for airport leaders

Once again Pittsburgh’s flying circus is in the news. Pittsburgh International (??) Airport. Its director has eked out a $200,000 a year raise. Good golly, Miss Molly! You can buy an awful lot of Spam, Spam, Spam, beans and Spam for that.

The average lunch-pail Pittsburgher has little interest in flying somewhere. They are too busy making, or trying to make, ends meet. The $1.4 billion for improvements is preposterous.

All we really need is good service to the hubs. If direct service can be justified by numbers, there’s no argument. The average Pittsburgher would rather the spendthrift attitude toward flying nosedive back to reality in favor of tax relief or bridge and infrastructure improvements.

History provides an apt model. The great Khans from the Steppes swept through Eastern Europe and Russia like a firestorm. Their tactics and strategies fit the situation. They employed a sophisticated, compact compound (laminated) bow that could be shot from horseback. The fast-moving rider made a poor target. They used scrubby little ponies that could forage below the snow. They thus eschewed the cumbersome supply trains. All men fought, unlike their Western counterparts.

History portrays the hordes in a bad light, yet the Khans made sure the Silk Road was secure for trade. It served as an important link for East and West in the exchange of intellectual and cultural ideas and items.

Hint, hint. Maybe the “visionaries” at the airport could draw a lesson. Lean and mean, got it? How about a $1.3 million makeover, or is that too much to ask?

Tom Kerek

Oakmont