The Federal Aviation Administration’s associate administrator of airports, Shannetta R. Griffin, who oversees national airport planning, met with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb on May 8 to discuss the future of Burke Lakefront Airport, the FAA confirmed to Signal on Friday.
In a statement to Signal Cleveland, the FAA said, “Ms. Griffin attended an informational meeting with the mayor and airport officials. The FAA did not make any commitments or decisions at this meeting.”
Cleveland Director of Port Control Bryant Francis also attended the meeting.
As Signal Cleveland first reported this week, Cleveland City Hall is preparing to announce its decision on the future of Burke Lakefront Airport. City officials planned to meet Monday afternoon to discuss when and how to roll out a decision, but the meeting was canceled because Jeffrey Epstein, City Hall’s chief of integrated development, was stuck in City Council’s daylong committee hearing.
A spokewoman for the mayor said the mayor’s meeting with Griffin was brief.
“Ms. Griffin’s visit was focused on both Hopkins and Burke,” Marie Zookefoose said. ” She participated in a tour of both airports and an informational session about each. The visit was not specific to Burke.”
Burke Lakefront Airport opened in 1947 but its future is up in the air
Bibb has long said he wants to close the airport to repurpose the 450 acres on the waterfront for a park or new development. His administration has been studying how to make that happen. It’s examining what regulatory and technical issues it would have to overcome. And the city is studying the economic impact of closing it.
City Hall has not yet made those studies available to the public – or even to Cleveland City Council, whose members are privately complaining about again being left out of big decisions.
Bibb said several times during his 2021 campaign for mayor that he would close the airport if he could. Opened in 1947, Burke primarily serves business and corporate air service. But its traffic has declined over the last two decades.
Bibb’s forthcoming announcement about the future of the airport comes as his administration is eyeing a major redevelopment of the downtown lakefront that includes a possible renovation of Browns Stadium. City and county leaders are also pursuing federal and state money to build a land bridge over the Shoreway, from the Mall next to City Hall to North Coast Harbor.
The story was updated Saturday afternoon to reflect the Bibb administration’s description of the meeting with the FAA. The mayor’s office was asked on Friday for comment, before the story published.
