The following article was published as a “Personal View” in Crain’s Cleveland Business on December 20, 2024 (online) and January 13, 2025 (print edition), penned by The Center for Cleveland’s Board Chair, Mark Zannoni.
Burke Lakefront Airport can play a critical role in Cleveland's revival
Mark Zannoni, December 20, 2024
There has been much chatter lately about closing Burke Lakefront Airport. But it makes no sense to destroy a functioning economic asset that, if leveraged properly, could be used to grow the city’s economy and population.
The Bibb administration, unfortunately, does not do this. To remove an irreplaceable asset for “lakefront development” when the land north of Huntington Bank Stadium remains vacant, and countless plans and attempts to develop it have failed, is mind-boggling.
Moreover, if the stadium where the Browns now play is dismantled after their lease expires, there will be even more space to develop. A convenient downtown airport of Burke’s caliber makes the city stand apart among competitor markets and can be used to truly grow and transform Cleveland.
Cleveland is at a turning point. The last 60 years need not be the same trend line for the next 60.
From 1900 to 1940, the city’s population grew by more than 130%. Burke opened in 1947, and the city reached its population peak in 1950. In more recent decades, we have seen the city’s decline — major population and economic losses in the city, and loss of global prestige.
The population of Greater Cleveland, defined as Cuyahoga and the six outer counties, has decreased by 8% since its 1970 peak, while the U.S. as a whole has grown 62% in that time. The city’s last Census count in 2020 was lower than that of the 1900 Census.
But the recent past should not be used to guide the future.
The Cleveland of the coming years is in a far different America than the one of recent decades. Climate change is creating profound weather systems, with storms more frequent and more devastating than before particularly affecting the eastern seaboard. If this trend continues, as expected, insurance companies will raise rates so high that living in many coastal areas will be unaffordable. COVID, technology innovations and new post-pandemic worker demands have given rise to work-from-home, where it is possible to be in Cleveland yet work for firms based elsewhere.
The combination of Cleveland’s lower cost of living while also having world-class, big-city amenities makes it an ideal place to move to from more expensive cities and climate-impacted places. As these trends intensify, Cleveland can be a direct beneficiary of such migrations. In other words, Cleveland — if the city plays its cards right — can thrive once again. As Cleveland Hopkins International Airport becomes more congested than ever, a secondary airport is critical to this emerging era of renewal.
Burke is not well understood, which may explain some of the current anti-Burke sentiment.
No other nearby airport has the capacity and capabilities of Burke. Its main runway, at 6,604 feet, is longer than either runway at Chicago Midway and is only 388 feet shorter than New York LaGuardia’s two runways.
Burke can, and does, handle large planes such as the Boeing 757. It also has customs landing rights and international arrivals capabilities, and it's the hub of Cleveland Clinic’s fleet of jets, which is crucial given that health care is a leading economic sector for the city. Travel time to the Clinic from Hopkins or Cuyahoga County Airport is 62% and 80% longer, respectively, than from Burke.
Cuyahoga County Airport is not a replacement for Burke, as cited by some, though it could be on the capacity front if the communities around it agree to major expansion, 24-hour operations, more leaded fuel impacts on nearby children, and increased traffic and noise. But given its location near the Lake County line, it would never provide the economic benefits of Burke with its location downtown, the region’s largest employment and activity hub.
Burke can be an economic driver for a city that sorely needs jobs and must compete with booming cities across the country. But by minimizing infrastructure improvements and creating a hostile environment for private-sector investment, the city is not acting in the best long-term interests of the residents and businesses of Cleveland.
The argument that the airport prevents lakefront development is false. The western runway protection zone at Burke certainly does not preclude development at the scale that would be, and has been, planned for the area around the stadium. The stadium, and Municipal Stadium before it, is evidence that development with height can occur.
In addition to providing better air service making Cleveland a stronger city for global business, Burke can inspire “airport-centric” ideas. For example, a French company just selected Daytona Beach Airport for a factory site to build its new hybrid-electric regional airplanes. Something similar could be pursued for Burke. How about being a test airport for new, non-leaded aviation fuel for general aviation? How about a new seaplane service to Put-in-Bay and Canada? LaGuardia had its famous Marine Terminal for PanAm’s Clippers, in addition to the regular terminals for planes using runways. Now, right in Midtown, NYC’s seaplane terminal is on the East River at E. 23 St. The possibilities for Burke are endless.
Additionally, the important type of traffic at Burke is increasing, not decreasing.
The traffic segment that matters most to growing the city’s economy is itinerant flight activity, mostly by air carriers and what the Federal Aviation Administration calls “air taxis,” which are planes for hire carrying 60 or fewer passengers. Comparing January-to-October 2024 to the like period in 2019 (the last full similar period before COVID), flights are up 16%. And business traffic from January-to-October 2023 to the like period in 2024 is up 10% in only one year. It’s clearly not the time to close an airport while business traffic is trending up strongly, feeding and growing the economy of the city.
And while Burke adds significant benefit to the city, it operates at no cost to taxpayers, as the city’s two airports comprise an enterprise fund and function as an “airport system.” Any operating deficits are covered by revenues at Hopkins, given the benefits of Burke to passengers at Hopkins. Burke enables the separation of traffic, giving smaller, general aviation aircraft an alternative to Hopkins. That need, thoughtfully envisioned by the planners of Burke, is still true today. Moreover, Burke supports on-time performance for scheduled airliners by minimizing Hopkins congestion and making for safer skies over Cleveland.
Another example of Burke’s potential can be seen by looking at Southwest Airlines. When Southwest was seeking to enter the Cleveland market in the early 1990s, the airline initially selected Burke over Hopkins, as Burke fit Southwest’s market strategy of serving less-congested airports in major U.S. markets. However, at around the same time, two market changes occurred. Midway Airlines dissolved in bankruptcy, and USAir acquired Piedmont. As a result, four contiguous gates suddenly opened at Hopkins, an unusual event, and Southwest ultimately went there.
People often cite Chicago’s now-closed Meigs field and its short, 3,900-foot runway as a parallel airport for Burke. However, the real secondary airport in Chicago is Midway (whose runways also are shorter than Burke’s), which is, of course, still open. The only similarity between Burke and Meigs is that they were both airports and both on the water. By that logic, Burke also is like New York JFK, as they are both airports and on the water. Hence, Meigs-Burke is a false parallel.
Since Burke opened, air travel has expanded profoundly and continues to grow. Population and employment in Cleveland can return to growth as well. It’s in our power if we make the right decisions with proper leadership. External events and trends such as severe weather, rising living and business costs in other cities, and the need for Great Lakes water are in our favor, but we must recognize these and seize the current opportunity, not close a critical economic asset that could facilitate our growth.
Closing Burke for any reason including for a football stadium would demonstrate a clear lack of vision on global trends and would undermine Cleveland’s future and potential. (Land for a new stadium could be found elsewhere in the city.)
Accordingly, we should be investing in Burke and therefore Cleveland’s future. The odds are in our favor as they were 100 years ago. In 1920, we were the fifth-largest city in America. We’re now 54th. Let’s not squander this new opportunity with short-sightedness, defeatism, and a deep lack of understanding of the value, capabilities and role of Burke. Let’s return to growth and prosperity.
Mark Zannoni is board president of The Center for Cleveland, a nonprofit focused on economic and population growth of the city of Cleveland and the region. He is not a pilot and has no financial interests at Burke.