A coalition of aviation advocates and businesses is pushing back against Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb’s renewed effort to close a Cleveland airport. In recent weeks, Bibb and Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne asked federal leaders to support decommissioning the 450-acre Burke Lakefront Airport, describing the site as a “once-in-a-century opportunity” for public access and economic development.
The request seeks relief from federal obligations that require the city to keep the Cleveland airport open. Those obligations stem from nearly $20 million in FAA and state grants awarded for improvements, which the coalition says commit the airport to remain operational into the late 2030s.
The Lakefront Airport Preservation Partnership outlined its concerns in its own letter to lawmakers, emphasizing that Burke remains an essential part of the region’s aviation system.
“Burke Lakefront Airport isn’t just used by general aviation pilots—it’s a vital asset to northeast Ohio and the country,” AOPA Great Lakes Regional Manager Kyle Lewis told Spectrum News Cleveland.
Lewis cited more than 50,000 annual operations, including medevac flights, Coast Guard missions, and training activity. He added that federal rules require the city to demonstrate that closing the airport serves the public interest and to identify another facility capable of absorbing the traffic.
“Mayor Bibb has done none of that,” he said, noting that nearby airports already operate at or near capacity.
Bibb and Ronayne maintain that aviation demand at Burke has declined over decades and that regional airports could handle critical flights if the facility closes. Their letter to federal officials argues that shifting operations would clear the way for parks, trails and mixed-use development expected to generate long-term economic benefits.
The last time the city looked into closing Burke lakefront airport the city gave up when they found out how much it would cost to environmentally clean up the site. The fact that the mayor and county exec have not brought up a plan on how other local airports would pick up the additional traffic tells me they haven’t looked into the cost of any cleanup involved.
This is remarkably similar to when then-Mayor Rich Daley (the younger) tried to close Meigs Field on the Chicago lakefront. He did not get federal permission and then just illegally shut it down with no notice. I certainly hope the supporters prevail in keeping this asset open. They may want to try to file a court order to keep it open to keep transparency of the local mayor and county chairman from shutting it down.
You can see what Chicago has done with the old Meigs airport site. A jogging trail and a concert venue. I used to fly a King Air in there on a regular basis. Company people would go to the McCormick Convention Center.
Yep, totally underutilized in its present form. Daley REALLY screwed Chicago and the aviation community with his underhanded and illegal destruction of Meigs - and he got away with it! We referred to him a “King Daley” after that - and not respectfully.