Mayor Justin Bibb bent the ears of decisionmakers in Washington, D.C., this summer on his push to close Burke Lakefront Airport.
But that lobbying effort did not appear to sway U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno or the Federal Aviation Administration. Moreno and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford voiced their opposition to closing the airport in remarks to News 5 Cleveland and Fox 8 on Friday.
Bibb’s most recently available monthly calendar shows that he spent June 25 meeting separately with members of Ohio’s congressional delegation and Loren Smith, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“These were productive meetings that helped answer questions and gave us the opportunity to present comprehensive plans regarding the closure of Burke,” City Hall spokesperson Tyler Sinclair told Weekly Chatter in a text message. “Mayor Bibb remains committed to working together to advance momentum around lakefront development.”
That was before Friday’s news. Afterward, City Hall said it was “disheartened” that the federal government’s position “appears to bypass the best interests of Clevelanders and Ohioans,” according to the television stations.
Two avenues for closing the airport — which occupies 450 acres of lakefront real estate — run through Washington. The city previously outlined that it could seek Federal Aviation Administration approval or lobby for an act of Congress.
“There is no scenario in which Burke Lakefront Airport would be closed, given the study and time that the FAA has spent analyzing this,” Moreno said, according to News 5.
Back in June, Bibb met throughout the day with Moreno, U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and U.S. Reps. Max Miller, Shontel Brown and Dave Joyce, according to the mayor’s calendar. He broke for lunch with Paul Doerrer, one of the city’s lobbyists on aviation matters.
Burke backers welcomed the news on Friday. Kyle Lewis, the Great Lakes regional manager for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said in a news release that his organization had “worked behind the scenes for months” voicing its opposition to closing Burke to local and federal officials.
“We’ve said from the beginning that the city should work with the FAA to develop an airport master plan to provide an unbiased path forward for the airport that takes the needs and concerns of all parties into consideration,” Lewis said.
