will airport work without the display

I want to use my MacBook Pro 15 with an external display since I cracked the display it came with. It won't fit on the keyboard tray with the display attached so I thought I would remove it altogether. When I looked at the directions for removing the display I noticed that the airport antenna is in the display. Will airport work without the antenna? I guess I should also ask: Is there a problem with removing the display altogether? The computer will work without it, won't it?