As honors go, it might be a close second to having Ed Harris play you in a movie. Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz has said he would like to rename Toledo Express Airport in honor of former NASA flight director and city native Gene Kranz.
The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, which operates the city-owned airport, should embrace the idea. More than that, port authority officials should use the name change as a springboard to an expanded vision for the airport’s role.
Mr. Kranz, 86, is a Central Catholic High School graduate who directed Gemini and Apollo missions at NASA. He is perhaps best known for shepherding the Apollo 13 mission, which was depicted in a 1995 movie of the same name.
In character as Mr. Kranz, Mr. Harris had one of the film’s most memorable lines: “Failure is not an option.”
That’s a motto airport authorities should adopt as they seek to improve the airport and what it contributes to the region. Toledo Express needs to escape the shadow of Detroit Metro Airport and develop into a first-rate regional asset that helps drive economic development in the Toledo area.
In recent years, the port authority has diligently maintained the airport, reroofing the terminal, building a new Customs office, resurfacing runways. It also has built crucial connections with other local institutions, such as helping create an aviation academy in conjunction with Toledo Public Schools, Bowling Green State University, and Owens Community College.
In 2018, air travel through Toledo Express Airport increased by more than 22 percent. It was the sixth straight year of growth for the airport. To build on this, the port authority should capitalize on the momentum and aim higher.
Most of Toledo’s flights connect local passengers with destinations throughout the South. Adding flights to a Northeastern hub such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, or Baltimore would be logical next goal — one that would be greatly useful to both business and leisure travelers in Toledo.
Renaming Toledo’s airport would also be a nice bookend to the recent renaming of Columbus’ airport in honor of another Ohio space pioneer. In 2016, Columbus International Airport was renamed John Glenn Columbus International Airport by an act of the General Assembly. Mr. Glenn, who died later that year, was a native of New Concord, Ohio, and had been the first American to orbit the Earth.
There is potential yet to be unlocked at Toledo Express Airport. Authorities should seize the opportunity to rename the airport for Mr. Kranz and to make it into an asset worthy of the honor.
First Published September 8, 2019, 4:00 a.m.
