AOPA shows support for Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport during annual celebration

AOPA Vice President Anne Esposito

AOPA joined Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell and other supporters of Burke Lakefront Airport over the weekend to kick off the 2002 Cleveland National Air Show. At the opening night Hangar Party, Mayor Campbell praised what she called a wonderful aviation event. AOPA Vice President for Airports Anne Esposito thanked the mayor for helping to celebrate general aviation, the airshow, and the airport.

"AOPA is here in Cleveland to underscore how vital we believe Burke Lakefront is, not only to Cleveland, but to the national air transportation system," said Esposito. "It's our job at AOPA to help community leaders understand how much they lose if they close an airport, and how much they stand to gain by keeping it open."

Burke Lakefront has faced opposition from some members of the public as well as city council members, who see the airport blocking access to Lake Erie. Supporters point to the tens of millions of dollars in economic impact Burke Lakefront provides the city and to the 82,000 operations at Burke Lakefront last year, operations that otherwise would likely have shifted to an already strained Hopkins International Airport.

The 2002 Air Show Hangar Party helps raise funds for the Crawford Museum of Transportation and Industry, being developed and built by the Western Reserve Historical Society. The theme for this year's hangar party is the sixtieth anniversary of Jimmy Doolittle's raid on Tokyo.

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