CLEVELAND, Ohio — The future of Burke Lakefront Airport (KBKL), including the possibility of closing the city-owned facility that occupies a prime piece of waterfront real estate in downtown Cleveland, has been thrown in doubt, according to a new report from Cleveland.com.
“It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the future of Burke is under discussion. During a campaign debate last fall, Mayor Justin Bibb, then a candidate for the city’s top job, said he favored what he called ‘an honest conversation about the future of Burke,'” the report from Susan Glaser says.
It notes that former Mayor Frank Jackson was “opposed to even discussing the possibility.”
The airport, which is near the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, had 40,296 takeoffs and landings in 2021, down from 100,321 in 2000, according to FAA data.
At least Cleveland city officials realize they can’t just bulldoze the airport, like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who demolished Meigs Field under cover of darkness back in 2003.
“We cannot take a bulldozer to the airport like Mayor Daley did,” the report quotes Cleveland City Councilman Kerry McCormack as saying.
But McCormack is also quoted as saying it’s “morally wrong” that the airport is a “massive piece of property on our waterfront that is owned by the citizens of Cleveland that is fenced off by barbed wire and that the people of Cleveland have no access to.”
Read the full Cleveland.com report here.
Travel time from CLE to downtown Cleveland are often grossly understated. While the Greater Cleveland RTA operates fast passenger rail service between downtown and CLE, it’s not practical for most travelers. Unless using Uber or a private car service, Cleveland visitors usually must travel to the rental car campus off airport property. This takes significantly longer than at many major airports due to waiting for shuttle buses.
Time is our only irreplaceable asset. BKL is tremendously more convenient for business flights. A few years ago, President Trump dropped in via BKL, that saved closing I-71 and saved him valuable travel time. Pro sports teams and owners use BKL. Attending the Republican National Convention was made far easier because of BKL.
The cost of organ transplant flights, life flights, Cleveland Police Aviation Unit flights etc. will all become more expensive. Time is money.
Last but not least, Cleveland’s aviation heritage will continue to fade. The Cleveland National Air Show, one of the premier such events internationally, in part carries on the tradition of the Cleveland Air Races. More importantly, it gives the public a chance to gather over a holiday weekend to enjoy getting acquainted with one another while enjoying aviation at its finest. Displays by NASA, the armed forces and civil aviation entities are appreciated by a most diverse crowd of attendees from near and far.
Dreams of flight by Cleveland youth can be pursed at BKL. Once it’s gone, access to flight training for average folks will be far more difficult. What a shame. Downtown Cleveland has enough parks, yacht clubs, parking lots and residences for the wealthy. There’s developable land in many other locations around downtown, like the Scranton Peninsula. Yep. Follow the money.
This is my home field and Cleveland.com as well as others brings this idea up yearly. We have a wonderful asset with it being located here and it is a much needed facility for Training schools, Fortune 500 companies and Life Flight helicopters, Ambulatory flights, transplant flights serving two of the Country’s leading hospitals, UH and Cle. Clinic as well as Level 1 trauma centers at Metro Hospital on the near west side and UH on the east side. I trained there as well as thousands of others and can attest that except for a few days a year with special activities the parks nearby are never full. We have the airshow and if it returns the only formula 1 race held on an airport in the US.
General aviation is dyeing in this country .Private ownership of small aircraft has gotten out of hand . To own an airplane today you have to be a doctor or lawyer. The grass roots days are gone. Airports charge an arm and a leg to keep a plane in a hangar today . Buying a small general aviation aircraft is not possible today. Even the older 75 year old plane of the 40’s and early 50’s are out of reach for the average pilot today. With all the restrictions on medicals and the increased cost of hanger and insurance you just can not afford to own a small private plane today. Closing all the small airports has contributed to the increase in cost of ownership of small general aviation airplanes. With this loss, aviation in general has suffered. There are fewer people going into general aviation and that impacts the commercial end of aviation with fewer pilots being trained for commercial pilots as well as military pilots.
From the FAA Airmen data;
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics/
From 2012 to 2020 the private/commercial pilot ranks decreased by 14% to 264,000.
But student pilots increased by 85% , to 222,000 from 120,000 in 2012.
If only 20% of these students become certified as pilots, that will increase the pilot ranks by 17%.
So, the pilot population is fairly stable, if increasing a bit, even as demand for pilots is increasing.
GA aircraft ownership is seeing a surge in prices, which is causing us to increase the hull insurance coverage…just in case. !
But, there are still a number of pre-restart aircraft for sale in the $50k-460k range.
make that $50k to $60k range [ [a ‘shift’ typo ]
Santa Monica residents complained of aircraft “belching lead over the community” and safety if (and when) a crash occurred off the airport (despite the airport having been there before any residents came).
Reid-Hillview has a Board of Supervisors that flat out dislikes airports, and the argument that they entertain is the “belching lead over the community” and safety, and, again, the airport was there when only beanfields surrounded it. Having unleaded fuel negates the leaded argument, but they just want the airport closed. The populous bleats “affordable housing” which really means free housing to the poor and downtrodden.
The beauty of Burke is that with approaches over the water there is negligible risk of a crash into buildings, and the “belching lead” argument is negligible, although that will disappear once unleaded fuel is offered.
Meigs was promised to be redeveloped as a park, accessible for all, but the employment advantage for Chicago was that a company could have its headquarters in the city and have an aircraft at Meigs to use to visit factories etc in other areas and have the executives home for dinner. After Meigs closed many headquarters relocated elsewhere since the advantage was lost, and Midway is saturated. I wonder if the city council at Cleveland has considered that?
The FAA has proven to be gutless in preventing closures. The fine imposed against Chicago was paltry, and Santa Monica the FAA Administrator rolled over totally (where he should not have). Santa Monica had 2/3rds of the runway dedicated as an airport in perpetuity, so what is the status of Burke? Are there use restrictions that keep it as an airport?
Here’s a perfect airport in the middle of the inner city that can teach the next generation of aviators to fly. It’s all about getting real estate so that these politicians can have a ribbon cutting ceremony with the nice shiny shovel to show that they added to the community. The Air Force is supposedly short 1600 pilots. Wouldn’t it make sense for the Air Force and the navy to join forces with all of these small airports so that they can promote aviation? Sometimes the solution is staring at you in the face! I have the same issue going on at Linden airport and Solberg airport in New Jersey. The locals don’t want the airports around. They would rather get developers to build more and more housing. It’s become so expensive to flight train in the State of New Jersey that I commute to Connecticut and Pennsylvania in order to maintain my currency never mind even attempting to buy an airplane and keep it in a hanger. It just doesn’t make any sense.
I find it self defeating to shut down an airport that is located over the water and not over houses so they can complain about noise. I live under the North approach end of DFW. It is rare that airport noise is a problem. If we don’t hear air traffic that usually means there is a problem with weather or economics. We always knew when the Concord departed DFW from the Walmart parking lot in Tulsa Oklahoma, but that sound meant a strong economy to me and airports are fundamental to that. Low fuel costs do not strangle commerce like high fuel costs. We travel less, buy less, and have less liberty when we have to yield to idiot politicians who know nothing about economics and even less about the American spirit.
Whenever land development is discussed by politicians, their ultimate decision point, “How much tax revenue will the use (re-use) generate? I call that “Management by inertia.” They always default that way. It’s short sighted and sad. They hide behind other reasons but the root cause is always money.
I was told that I was taken to Meigs Field when it opened as a young child. I have fond memories of being in downtown Chicago as I got older and seeing all sorts of airplanes using the place. I had it on my bucket list to fly into it but the mayor got to it first. Anyone who wants to visit Burke better get on it before IT goes, too.
Follow the money. Who is contributing to the pols who want to “talk about the future”? It’s always about short term profit, never long term planning. Two personal examples, I flew out of both. Canastota, NY decided to close the airport and sold it to a real estate developer. Hopewell, VA closed the airport to develop low income housing. It’s always about the money.
Never underestimate the greed of a politician needing contributions – unknown
Cleveland needs a lot of high rise water front property. Goodbye Burke.😢😢😢
Denver moved way out from the city, now DIA is surrounded by houses and businesses. The old Stapleton is now all houses.
Build it and they will come and complain about the noise.
Many small airports are closing due to lack of use and overhead cost of the airport.
Conway, Arkansas decided to close their only local airport a few years ago with one of the reasons being higher and better land use. Contrary to the approach common today, Conway decided their airport contributed significantly to the community and that it should be improved. Their ultimate decision was to relocate the airport to expanded and greatly improved facilities. I don’t know the financial ins-and-outs of the project, but the original land has been redeveloped and the new airport is more functional, just a small bit further from town. Cities needing to close airports should be “encouraged” simply to relocate them.
They cant bring any airline into Burke (KBKL) When KCLE was built, Burke signed a contract stating they wont ever offer airline service. The city would just run them off with higher landing and gate fees anyways as they are doing at CLE. However, there are ways around offering scheduled service but not any major airlines. The Cleveland Clinic also runs (third party) their organ transplant teams out of BKL.
Additionally, BKL was built on a garbage dump. So any digging around they do will stur up a mess.
If you’re going to keep it negotiate with a large airline such a Southwest or frontier and make it their exclusive hub. With the understanding that they add plenty of nonstop flight destinations Instead of multiple stops get to your destinations.
I’m glad they mentioned Meigs Field in the article, because I had to do a double-take upon seeing the first photo above.
Also, I find it a little comical that they whine about the fact that this “massive piece of property on (their) waterfront that is owned by the citizens of Cleveland that is fenced off by barbed wire and that the people of Cleveland have no access to.” If the good of the people is genuinely the driver here, and not the (perceived) profit to be made from redevelopment, Cleveland might do well to study the current state of Northerly Island and how it currently “benefits” the people of Chicago. Such a compare and contrast exercise might make for a highly relevant and enlightening point of reference.
Oh, and if they are genuinely concerned about the public having access to the airport, I would offer three thoughts: 1.) The public has as much access to that airport as they do any other public-use airport these days. 2.) The public might actually have less restricted access to that airport at this point than they do many of their government buildings and public officials. 3.) If they have a problem with a fence being built around that airport (or any other public-use airport), then they should talk to the Department of Homeland Security.
I’m glad you mentioned the current state of Northerly Island. I’ve been there in the last few years. Chicago hasn’t taken much advantage of that particular piece of property. Maybe if they’d sold it, it would have done the city some good.
Cleveland Tennessee closed their small GA airport several years ago and built a replacement. Whereas the original airport was 3500 ft and crowded up next to a ridge, the new one is 5,000 ft, has a modern FBO, capable of handling decent sized jet traffic. It’s a nice place that’s suitable for business travelers north of Chattanooga. They did a remarkably good job there.