Old AmrapinVA

It's a very large city for it's region. I would say there's nothing within 500 miles as large as this city. Hint, hint. ;)

If I'm wrong, I'm sorry for jumping the gun. But I have pretty good feeling I'm right on that one. This city dosen't look to impressive but it's a monster for its region.

It's Casablanca

CMH Downtown, How'd you get the scoop on that? That's awesome if it's true...but didn't CAL management come out and say that LGW was gonna be put to the scrap heap if "open skies" came through and that it's performing "marginally" (whatever that means). I'm suprised that they would start service in October too, considering London was scrapped from year-round status because loads were weak during the winter according to past CAL mgmt statements. But maybe it'll be Paris-winter, London-summer. I can live with that for the short term. As for CDG being a viable option, most airlines go London, Paris then Frankfurt when establishing international service out of hub. Although sometimes Frankfurt gets pushed ahead of Paris. AMS is usually a fourth option, unless you have a code-share with KLM like NWA does. Example: Delta's CVG operation has LGW, CDG and FRA. They've tried other European 'gateways' but they haven't stuck. If Mr. Smith pulled something off like this though, it's time to start saying "Mok-who?" Concourse upgrades still need to be done in order for European service to get really cranking though.

Another Forbes poll that I pulled out of the Washington Post: Team Value of NFL franchises as of '06: 1. Washington $1.423 bil. 7. Cleveland $970 mil. 9. Baltimore $946 mil. (So much for Baltimore being a better market) 18. Pittsburgh $880 mil. 21. Detroit $839 mil. 22. Indianapolis $837 mil. 23. Cincinnati $825 mil. 32. Minnesota $720 mil. Mind you Cleveland hasn't won shit in 46 years and is #7 in team worth. I don't know if it's loyalty or lunacy....but I understand now why the NFL was hell bent on getting a team back in Cleveland. This idea, that even floats on these boards, that somehow the Cleveland-Akron metro is 'poor' sure dosen't translate on this poll. Especially with the Gund selling out almost every night for the LeBron led Cavs as well. People spend money in Cleveland. :)

Have you thought about Akron/Canton before taking that drive to Detroit? I thought AirTran had a non-stop to there.

OSU 79, YSU 0

Didn't ole C'land pull a #1 ranking back in 1994? That should tell you the rankings are flawed. :)

According to the last figures I saw Cleveland has an estimated population of 440,000 as of 7/1/05. Rand McNally publishes a book with the census estimate that had places like Parma, Euclid and Elyria gaining population albeit by a few hundered people, but growth none the less. Lakewood only lost 500 people. It had the 5 county metro losing .5 percent for the first half of the decade...and .5 percent loss projected for 2005-2010. The entire 7 county Cleveland-Akron metro losing .1 percent for 2000-2005 and projecting a .1 percent loss for 2005-2010. Probably the most shocking numbers were from San Fran. Even counting the North Bay burbs...it's losing population at a rate as fast as the Pittsburgh metro. San Fran-San Jose-Oakland is only going to grow 3-4 percent this decade. WAY below the 1990's/1980's average. While LA grows at it's usual 15-20 percent clip.

Personally, I like the fact they are sticking to a budget, god knows, we don't want a contractor to install the wrong type or runway then have to rip it out, doubling the cost of the project! I like the fact that cleveland (not the county or in conjunction with the county) runs the airport. Why do we need another level of government??!! 1000 feet makes a bit of difference from a airline stand point as planes aren't idling or circling BURNING fuel. AmrapinVA , What exact are the airports you mentioned doing??? What do you expect ricky smith to do right away?? the man has been on the job approximately six weeks. He can't change things overnight, or would you prefer him to make "knee jerk reactionary" changes or impliment changes/programs that benefit Cleveland, NE Ohio, Ohio and the Midwest? What would YOU LIKE DONE? I don't think I've been shy in what I'd like seen done with Hopkins...roll back a few pages on this thread and you'll see. I like Mr. Smith....again I've said so in previous posts...and I don't blame this situation on him at all. This failure of getting a decent RFP had more to do with Campbell/Mok. The runway length issue has nothing to with landings and holdings...the additional 6/24 runway built earlier this decade has actually solved this problem by allowing simultaneous ILS/VA approaches. CLE, through runway facility upgrades, is also now a CAT-III airport allowing planes to land with practically no visibility. All great things. But... The runway extention has to do with takeoff performance...you need length in order to get fully-fueled larger aircraft off the ground. An extra 500 or 1000 feet will help...but not enough to convince CAL to bring wide-body aircraft to Cleveland. And without that...don't plan on additional service to Europe..or a serious expansion of the CLE hub. Which in turn will drive businesses away from the area. So the extra $24 million seems like a no-brainer. We want Cleveland to be a 'world-class' city, but having Europeans fly through Newark to get here sure seems more 'continental' to me. :)

Very correct KJP. It's past being worth the time and energy... Then please Gildone, don't start something you aren't willing to finish. And don't assume that all people arguing one "side" have completely similar views. I'm in full support of Ohio Hub, I've said it in two different posts on here. I'm not against passenger rail at all...and I think it could be profitable done the right way. :)

I present you the domestic route map for All Nippon Airways: http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/dms/networkmap/main_syuukoutoshi.html Seems to me that domestic service is working just fine. No beef with rail and air working in tandem. Cities much smaller than than the Y'town area in Japan have air service. But then again, I'm probably just "weakening my position". :) And KJP, remember what this thread was about. You even said, so much for this being about aviation. I agree! I'm a very movable force as well, but "this is right because I said so", isn't gonna change my mind. :)

Damn this interchange has been floated around since the 70's. There's also been talk of making another Medina interchange at Rt. 57 over the past 15 years or so. I don't see the traffic issues. Once 71 was widened to three lanes....there dosen't seem to be half the traffic issues there were south of Pearl Rd. out to Medina. Then again, I use it 2/3 times a year when I'm there.

Great articles, grasscat. Honestly....with Mesa Airlines low-balling everyone on regional contracts, Comair is in real deep shit and they know it.

A 757 can fly to China....as long as it stops in Anchorage. :) Anyway, how do you lowball like that. It's not surprising they got 2 bids, I bet rumors got around about how cheap the city wanted to be on this project. I would have rather have this project go over-budget, then not be started altogether. We need a county/regional entity to run Hopkins. BTW, if they aren't gonna spend the $54 million, might as well use whatever funds that tied specifically on the project on some concourse/customs improvements. Adding 500/1000 ft. isn't gonna improve performance enough to matter. Does anyone in Cleveland gov't see what Columbus is planning on doing? Or what Akron/Canton is currently doing? Or the current lack of service at Hopkins? Embarassing.

^^ I love how the blame in this article is put on the people looking for affordable housing, not on the developers and home/condo owners who price housing stock out of the range of what most people can afford to buy near a rail/METRO station. Bring housing/condo/apartment stock back to affordable middle-class levels, and you won't have farmland being paved over at alarming rate in this (the DC) area.

Man, I'm having a bad day. I just glanced at the bottom. I'm at work so I can't spend quality time with the articles today. Port Authority...Port Control...Port somethin'. :)

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Adds TSA-Certified Canine Team Tuesday August 8, 10:00 am ET Latest in Bomb Detection Technology Comes to CLE on Four Legs CLEVELAND, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the City of Cleveland and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) introduced a new canine team certified to begin patrolling and screening at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The new team, Sara, a beautiful German Shepherd and her handler, Cleveland Police Officer Michael Moher join the ranks of two other teams assigned to the airport since 2002. Both Sara and Officer Moher are recent graduates of TSA's ten-week National Explosives Detection Canine Training Program (NEDCTP) in San Antonio, Texas. Each canine is selected for keen sensory capabilities and gentle temperament. Individual dogs selected for the program must undergo exacting pre-acceptance screening to demonstrate they are healthy, intelligent, highly motivated, and trainable. Selected dogs are then paired with volunteer officers who, together with their new partner, undergo months of initial training. After certification, each team undergoes several hours of ongoing proficiency training in their operational environment. Together Sara and Officer Moher specialize in the detection of explosive devices. The teams combine excellent mobility with reliable detection rates. Their day-to-day time focuses on searches involving threats against aircraft, all airport property, cargo areas, and the routine searching of vehicles and luggage. There are approximately 400 TSA-Certified Canine teams at seventy-seven airports nationwide providing first responders with the right tools, technical assistance, and funding to ensure the nation's security. Good God, Cleveland is No. 78! I wonder how many airports that don't even have any international service got TSA dogs before Hopkins. I don't know if this says alot about the Port Authority or the TSA!

Again, I'm sorry for ranting about this. It's just that old Amrap and Amrap Hts. were built on white flight and well functioning East Side neighborhoods were left to rot for a pretty drab suburb. It's good to see people working to make sure that Old Brooklyn dosen't go down that road. A successful diverse neighborhood on the West Side would be nice.

Mmmmm.....sweeties. Best sugar rush on the planet.

In my head, I would think. Muni lot would be closed and I-90 "dropped". this way the street grid could descend down, north. I totally thing the new flights planned for burke are ridiculous, when hopkins is only running at something like 75% capacity. i think the Federal Reserve and Federal Government (accounting/payroll) operations would be the only REAL affected end users of Burke closing. Again, hopkins is the answers. As I think the "county" airport in Richmond Hts. is a lil too far away to be useful for those agencies. Frank...grow some balls and blow up the damn runway....I dare you...I double dare you with a cherry on top! :-P Then what? It's one thing to want to get rid of Burke...it's another to have a plan to do something with it. C'land has enough abandoned land/surface parking to deal with right now with out adding more unused acreage into the mix.

Is this for real? Debit cards and North Coast Harbor? I give this version about 5 months before it joins the scrap heap of dumb Monopoly spin-offs.

I was responding to the last few threads, not just you. Mucho apologizo.

Where the hell is Petersburg, Ky. anyway? I've never seen it on my trips to Cincy.

Good God, if you're going to close Burke...please, please, please...have a ready to redevelop option on the spot. Get the construction cranes moving right away. They way things move in Cleveland....a worse eye-sore would be to have an abandoned airport by downtown with seven different interests bitching about what to do with the property for 10-20 years.