Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford weighed in on the push to close Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (KBKL), telling a local television news station that the agency is against closing airports around the country. “We need to talk about how do we open new facilities—not how do we close existing, valuable real estate?” he told the ABC affiliate while on a tour of the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center in Oberlin, Ohio, on Friday.
The administrator’s response came as Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb has called for the airport’s closure, saying it loses $1.7 million a year. Bibb has a vision of turning the land into a lakefront recreational area, as well as repurposing it for economic development. The airport, which is built largely on man-made landfill on the edge of Lake Erie, opened in 1947.
Mayor Bibb’s office has outlined three possibilities for closing it: waiting it out until 2039, when the city is free of grant obligations; having the U.S. Congress step in; or going through the FAA for approval.
Bedford’s remarks send a signal that the FAA would not support such an effort. As for going through Congress, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) also stressed that lawmakers do not intend to step in either. “It would be patently absurd for a politician to override the experts at the FAA to say we know better than you do,” he told the affiliate station, later adding, “In the business world, we have the expression: Don’t talk about things that are never going to happen.”
Moreno also suggested Cleveland would be better served focusing on addressing other issues. The ABC affiliate also noted a similar statement from Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).
NBAA praised the remarks, saying they validate comments of the local community that Burke is not a liability to be closed but rather should be strengthened. “We thank Administrator Bedford, and Senators Moreno and Husted, for recognizing that Burke Lakefront Airport is an essential community asset, critical to the city’s progress, prosperity, regional connectivity, and workforce opportunity,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.
The remarks were also made as opposition builds to closing the airport, most recently with <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-08-05/local-groups-band-together-support-lakefront-airport">a letter sent</a> from local area businesses and another from students and professionals urging the Cleveland City Council to reject the proposal.
NBAA also pointed to a recent Ohio Department of Transportation study that found that the airport generates $195 million in direct annual economic activity, sustains 664 jobs, and is an important reliever airfield for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (KCLE).

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FAA Administrator Bedford, U.S. Senators Oppose Burke Lakefront Closure

Neither FAA nor Congress appear open to helping Cleveland expedite airport closure

Neither FAA Administrator Bedford nor key U.S. senators s appear open to helping Cleveland in its quest to close Burke Lakefront and turn the site into a park.

FAA’s Bedford, Lawmakers Oppose Burke Lakefront Closure

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

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