Cleveland airport travelers offer wish list
CLEVELAND — An improved Customs facility, more parking, better entry and exit roadways, consolidated TSA checkpoints — those are all features that are likely to be included in a reimagined Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The airport hosted the first of three public meetings Thursday to solicit input from travelers about what they want from a revamped airport. Hopkins is in the middle of a once-in-a-decade planning process, where city and business leaders, travelers and dreamers can offer suggestions on what they want from their airport.
There’s no guarantee that any of the suggestions will be implemented — that’s a separate process, which will require city approval, financing and likely years of planning. Now is the time for ideas, suggestions and questions.
Florida firm RS&H is leading the master plan process, which should be complete early next year. The company has spent several months taking stock of airport facilities and projecting passenger trends. The dramatic downturn in travel due to the coronavirus pandemic made forecasting future passenger numbers complicated, said Gary Logston, senior aviation planner with RS&H.
Current consensus, he said, is that air traffic will take at least three to four years to recover to 2019 levels, when Hopkins welcomed just over 10 million passengers. By 2029, the airport should see traffic between 11 million and 13 million people, according to the firm’s forecasts.
What will those passengers want? Among the suggestions: Wider concourses, a better location for the rentalcar facility and more widespread use of public transportation.
The fate of Concourse D, built in 1999 for Continental Airlines and shuttered since the closure of United’s hub in 2014, remains up in the air, said Airport Director Robert Kennedy. He called the concourse a “distressed asset” that will require a substantial investment for any future use. “It was designed for an aircraft that will never return to this airport,” he said, referring to smaller planes that were used when Cleveland was a hub airport.
Kennedy also was asked if Cleveland would ever be a hub airport again. His answer was direct: “That’s not going to happen,” he said, due to airline consolidations and other factors.
Other questions that were posed: • Any chance the airport will be moved to another location? Kennedy called that a “remote possibility” due to its expense. “The master plan will determine what is best,” he said.
• What about nonstop flights to Europe? John Hogan, deputy chief of marketing and air service development, said Cleveland will land another transatlantic flight. “But it won’t be tomorrow,” he said, particularly with the dramatic downturn in international travel due to the pandemic.
• What’s the fate of the Sheraton hotel on the grounds of the airport? Kennedy said it was yet to be determined. “But I feel that a good hotel is needed at an airport of our size,” he said.
Meanwhile, work continues on one capital improvement that isn’t part of the master plan process — a new Ground Transportation Center that is under construction just north of the terminal. This is where travelers catch shuttles to off-site hotels and parking lots. The new facility will feature covered seating areas, wider walking areas, heat, internet access and more. It is expected to be complete in November.
The next meeting on the master plan is 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 14.