City expands ban on smoking to entire airport terminals

Friday, July 03, 1998

By PATRICIA HARDIN
PLAIN DEALER REPORTER

With no advance warning, Cleveland began banning smoking entirely at its airports this week - and travelers like Doug Ferguson are fuming.

Ferguson, of Chagrin Falls, arrived at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for a 7 a.m. flight to Las Vegas yesterday, only to be met with a 10 hour-delay.

Told that the plane was having mechanical problem, he and four friends went into one of the airport bars to smoke cigarettes and relax. The bars and lounges had been the last refuge for smokers at the airport. But as soon as Ferguson lit up, he was told to take it outside.

"This is ridiculous," Ferguson said as he puffed his cigarette outside the terminal while waiting for his Sun Country flight to depart. "We pay just as many taxes as everybody else. We should be able to smoke in the bars here just like at any other restaurant."

The complete ban on smoking, announced late Wednesday by Mayor Michael R. White, prohibits smoking in all airport buildings, including all leased properties, restaurants, cocktail lounges and airline clubs. It affects Hopkins and the smaller Burke Lakefront Airport.

If caught smoking, a person could be fined up to $50 or could serve up to 30 days in jail. But Solomon Balraj, assistant director of the Department of Port Control, said it is more likely that an officer patroling the airport would merely ask smokers to put the cigarettes out. If they don't comply, he said, then the officer will act.

"Airport facilities often determine the first impression a traveler makes when visiting a new city," said White. "We want the traveling public to have a great first impression of our city" by ensuring that the airpoirts "are clean, safe, healthy and customer-service friendly."

Several travelers waiting to catch planes yesterday said the no-smoking policy improves the atmosphere at Hopkins.

"I don't prefer smoking [here- because I have allergies, so it bothers me," said Willaetta Thompson, a Youngstown resident waiting for her flight to Tulsa. "So if the mayor decides to have no smoking then it's fine with me."

Deborah Luggelle, a Painsville resident who came to Hopkins to await the arrival of a relative's flight, said, "I feel there's more of a health issue at stake than there is an issue of imposing on the rights of others who smoke."

But several other travelers had another opinion.

"I think telling people to smoke outside, especially in the dead of winter, is rather demeaning," said Steven Medlar, a Philadelphia resident who was in Cleveland on business. Although Medler quit smoking several years ago, he said smokers' rights should be protected and there should be a designated smoking area in the airport.

Balraj said the policy "is not directed at any one group." The city רררררררררררררררררררררררררis just trying to bring airport policies in line with those for the rest of the city property, including City Hall, he said. The policy, which is consistent with city ordinances that allow smoking bans in public buildings, also falls in line with other airports', such as Reagan National in Washington, D.C. and Denver Stapleton Airport, Balraj said.

Six waitresses at an airport bar, however, said that the policy has already caused them to lose 20 customers. The would-be patrons came into the bar to smoke when they found out that the Sun Country flight to Las Vegas had been delayed. According to the waitresses, who would not give their names, the travelers immediately walked out when informed they could not smoke.

Despite the ban on smoking, airport shops have not stopped selling cigarettes. Executives from Host Marriott, which operates the shops under a lease from the city, did not return calls yesterday. But Santi Das, an employee of one of the shops, she said she doesn't expect the smoking ban to hurt business.

A non-smoker, she said she welcomes the policy.

"Smoking is not good. But nobody listens," said Das. "White is just trying to save Clevelanders' lives."

©1998 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission.

 

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