KENOSHA, Wis. — A potential move to bring a 737 Boeing airplane to the Kenosha Regional Airport is causing controversy in the city.
Neighbors say the proposal could do more harm than good. For years in the Tyler's Ridge neighborhood, just two miles away from the airport, families have been listening to planes fly over their homes day after day.
Now, a Waukesha man who owns two private jets at the airport wants to bring his 737 Boeing airplane to the facility. Neighbors say they are frustrated over the potential of more noise.
However, Kenosha Airport Commissioner Rocco Lamacchia says the city could potentially lose out on a lot of money and jobs if the owner chooses to build a hangar for his plane elsewhere.
"If he doesn't get the hanger, he might move his two planes to wherever allows him to have that big hanger, which means we'll lose nine mechanics," Lamacchia said. "We'll lose a lot of fuel that those two planes buy from us right now."
He adds the owner says he would only plan on using the 737 plane a couple of times a month.
"He's looking at 26 to 27 landings and takeoffs a year. That's all. That's like two a month," he said. "I was told that this plane is quieter than the two planes he has here now. I see this as a win-win situation for the city."
Lamacchia says nothing is in stone just yet and only conversations are being had at the moment. If proposed, the plan would have to be approved by the Airport Commission, the City Planning Commission, and then the City Council.
