Airport Experience® News - Conference Issue 2025

DIRECTOR’S CHAIR

CLEVELAND REINVENTION The City Is Enjoying a Renaissance; Bryant Francis Wants The Same For CLE

BY CAROL WARD

ditor’s Note: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) is in the planning stages for the transformation of its terminal facilities. The current facilities vary in age but are all outdated and in need of upgrades. Nearly two years ago, Bryant Francis was tapped to lead CLE, as well as a downtown airport and the Cleveland’s port, in the role of director of port control for the city. Francis, who previously was director of Oakland International Airport (OAK), spoke with AXN’s Carol Ward about his vision for CLE as the airport evolves to meet the demands of a new generation of travelers. E

WARD: You’ve been at the helm at CLE for about 20 months now. Can you share a bit about your vision for the airport? FRANCIS: I was attracted to this opportunity due to a number of things, one of which was the fact that the planning effort was in the early stages for transformation of the terminal facilities at Cleveland Hopkins, and that was very exciting to me. I like the idea of being an integral part of a far-reaching effort to create a much stronger representation of what is, essentially, a vital asset to the region. I also like that it’s a two-airport system, with both Cleveland Hopkins and Burke Lakefront (BKL), which is the downtown airport. We also have a third element, the North Coast Harbor, which is the city’s lakefront interest. Cleveland is on the cusp of a renaissance. There’s a lot of energy in and around the downtown core, and I understand how important a healthy, vibrant airport is to the ability of the city to thrive. When I arrived, early planning efforts were already underway for the terminal modernization program. Our facilities are aging. I want to create an environment that our residents can be proud of, that

they look forward to experiencing. In my mind, we have one chance to get this right. It is my goal to ensure that we’re in lock step with our signatory airline partners. We want to create a more functional, efficient, spacious and technologically advanced facility that will serve as that front door of the community. I’m also focused on the experience that our customers have with employees who work at the airport, [with a goal of] improving those guest relations. And of course, our relationships with our business partners who operate within the terminal – that’s another area that I want us to continue working to improve as we are improving our physical infrastructure. WARD: I would like to get into a bit more details on that terminal renovation, but first let’s talk about passenger traffic trends. I know CLE is struggling a bit – what’s going on? FRANCIS: 2024 overall was a good year for us. We had a really strong first eight months of the year and for that period we were up about 7% over 2023 and also trending ahead of 2019. Then traffic began to take a bit of a turn. I don’t believe that it’s due to weaken demand. Instead, it’s primarily

Above: Bryant Francis, director of port control, City of Cleveland.

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AX NEWS MARCH 2024