AOPA meets with Senate offices to oppose Burke Lakefront closure

The push to close the airport has been led by Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who, along with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA officials, as well as members of Congress, in October. The letter asks them to let the city circumvent the grant obligations it previously agreed to, which requires the city to keep the airport open until the late 2030s.

“We appreciate the offices of Senators Moreno and Husted for taking the time to meet with us and hear our concerns on this important issue,” said AOPA Great Lakes Regional Manager Kyle Lewis.

AOPA played a key role in organizing the Lakefront Airport Preservation Partnership, which has joined dozens of local pilots, companies, and schools—as well as the Cleveland National Air Show—that would be impacted by the closure. In November, it sent a letter to the same officials approached by the city, opposing the closure of the airport. The airshow, which attracts up to 100,000 spectators every year, is one of the oldest and most established annual aviation events in the country.

Separately, the Center for Cleveland, a local nonprofit, bipartisan organization that advocates for the future of the city, sent a letter to DOT and FAA leaders, in addition to the city’s congressional delegation. In it, the center explains why the closure would not help the city’s residents, raises concerns about the studies commissioned by the city, and details how the airport’s closure could cost the city dearly down the road.

In its eight-page letter, the center makes dozens of points, including that:

• The airport is a vital link for the city’s hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic, and is the hub for transporting critically ill patients and organs.
• The airport sits on an old landfill with “potentially profound levels of waste” that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to remove, and possibly more. The center noted it is “laughable” to think a developer would pay this cost before breaking ground on any new construction.
• The two studies commissioned by the city are one-sided. The center notes that the mayor promised “an honest conversation about the future of Burke,” but then commissioned studies that examined only closure scenarios and explicitly excluded the extensive environmental remediation that would be required.
• The mayor’s claim that other airports can absorb the traffic and infrastructure from the airport is “nonsensical” and that it would add congestion, compromise safety, and “negatively impact the nation’s air system and airlines’ on time performance.” The center also noted that without new investment, forcing traffic and infrastructure to other airports “does not in any way ‘strengthen’ the ‘overall aviation system.’”
• The airport gives the city a unique edge when trying to attract business to Cleveland as it is something “that almost no other US city has.”

“The Center for Cleveland, which is known for taking an objective look at issues affecting the city and its residents, clearly articulates why the Burke Lakefront site can’t feasibly be redeveloped, why studies commissioned by the city were designed to examine the closure rather than the airport’s full potential, and why the airport must remain operational for the city to remain competitive. Cleveland should be looking to the future, and AOPA and the Lakefront Airport Preservation Partnership continue to invite Mayor Bibb and County Executive Ronayne to sit down with us and talk about what the future of Burke could look like,” said Lewis.