Could St. Pete-Clearwater Airport be Shut Down Due to Economy?

Could an economic crunch force the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport to shut down next year?

That's what one liberal think tank suggests, according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times.

The Center for American Progress "speculated in a recent report that the airport could be one of six in Florida and 106 around the country that would have to shut down because the Federal Aviation Administration wouldn't be able to pay air traffic controllers," the Times reports.

Such a shutdown is "hard to believe that it will actually take place," airport director Noah Lagos told the Times.

But the analyst behind the report said he was trying to show the potential impact of the "fiscal cliff" that could be looming for the federal budget in January.

Read more in the Times' full report.