Chicago aldermen were asked Thursday to give quickie approval to Mayor Daley's $2.5 billion plan to privatize Midway Airport on blind faith -- without any idea how the $1 billion in proceeds will be spent.

Roughly $1.5 billion of the proceeds will be used to pay off Midway Airport debt, fees and other airport expenses. State law requires 90 percent of the $1 billion profit to be used to bankroll city infrastructure projects and shore up underfunded city employee pension funds.

That leaves $100 million to be spent at Daley's discretion.

During a series of closed-door briefings Thursday, aldermen tried to press top mayoral aides for details on how the money would be spent. They got nowhere.

The Finance Committee is expected to approve the historic deal Monday, with a full Council vote two days later.

That would trigger a federal approval process expected to require "a minimum of 60 days from the filing of the city's final application," according to materials distributed to aldermen.

"We talked about the 90 percent. It has to go for capital and pensions. Ald. [Anthony] Beale said, 'Which way are you leaning? We'd like to know.' The answer was the allocation will come in a separate ordinance. We'd just like to start the clock ticking on the 60 days," said Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th), the mayor's unofficial City Council floor leader.