The Airlines are Actually Recommending Reason...

...but the Las Vegas elected officials don't seem interested in listening:

Airlines serving McCarran International Airport have issued the bleakest economic forecast yet for Las Vegas, recommending that officials reconsider the need for a terminal that is under construction because there may not be sufficient tourism traffic to justify it.

The airlines also have asked the airport to cancel its $114 million Heliport project and to reevaluate all other capital projects in McCarran’s five-year plan.

The airlines’ message to Las Vegas: The industry will not quickly recover from the tourism decline wrought by a combination of higher fuel prices and a sputtering economy.

County officials scoffed at the airlines’ pessimism, saying the region’s economy depends on an airport built to support more tourism traffic. The Clark County Commission on Tuesday voted to stay the course with construction of the terminal.