Federal officials reject restrictions on night flights at Bob Hope Airport

Federal officials today dealt a blow to a decades-long fight to restrict nighttime flights at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

The Federal Aviation Administration rejected a request by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for a curfew. The FAA found that a curfew "was not reasonable"’ because it would "create an undue burden on commerce" and negatively effect the national air transportation system. It also said other alternatives are available for dealing with noise.

The agency announced its decision in a 43-page letter released today. The FAA said the airport authority can challenge the decision in federal court.

 The agency, in a briefing paper on its decision, listed six conditions the airport was required to meet, then wrote the word "failed" next to four of them. "A restriction proposal must, however, meet all six conditions," the paper says. "Based on the information submitted in this application, it is not likely the benefits will outweigh the costs to users."

Local officials have fought for years to restrict flights at the airport to reduce noise in surrounding residential neighborhoods. The Supreme Court even weighed in in 1973, striking down a Burbank ordinance banning overnight takeoffs from the airport, then called the Hollywood-Burbank Airport.

The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which operates the airport, sought to prohibit flights between 10 p.m. and 6.59 a.m. except for emergencies. But the airport’s request ran into strong political turbulence from Fed Ex, United Parcel Service and other cargo companies and trade groups that objected to a curfew as a burden on interstate commerce that would harm the economy just as it was showing signs of recovery. They also contended that a curfew at Bob Hope Airport would have a ripple effect on the national air transportation system, leading other airports to seek to restrict flights.

Opponents also accused the airport of exaggerating the noise problem and argued that there are other ways to address noise short of imposing a curfew, such as soundproofing more houses near the airport. But Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and Howard Berman (D-Valley Village), among those pushing for a curfew, argued that it would provide "meaningful nighttime noise relief" to the communities surrounding the airport.

The city of Burbank said in a filing with the FAA, "While aircraft noise is a common concern in many communities, we are not aware of any other community in which the particular problem of nighttime noise has been so contentious for such a long period of time. In short, the nighttime noise problem has defined this airport and this community for several decades."

Curfew supporters argue that it would affect a small number of aircraft -- mostly cargo and private planes -- "an almost imperceptible number of operations in the context of the national air transportation system," as the city of Burbank put it.

The FAA had to determine that the curfew was "reasonable, nonarbitrary and nondiscriminatory," did not create an undue burden on interstate or foreign commerce; maintained safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace; and did not create an undue burden on the national aviation system.

-- Richard Simon in Washington

Photo: A plane takes off from Bob Hope Airport in a 2005 file photo. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press

More breaking news in L.A. Now:

West Covina girl dies when TV falls on her

Polanski offers larger cash deposit to Swiss in bail deal

Lanes cleared after car overturns on 405 Freeway in Sherman Oaks

No motive, no suspects in slaying of Wilson High honors student

Comments

[Sal]

The same message applies to those living under the flight path (as I did for 20 years, before I moved to quieter Hollywood!) as to those home-Moaners who whine every time a ten cent tax is proposed, new and unusual ethnic types appear in their previously pristine valley neighborhoods, and they have to deal with longer and longer traffic delays: unless you moved here in 1920, you knew you were moving into an intensely vibrant, growing city, with the economic benefits to match. Or, oh, did you think the city doors closed after you arrived?

Because, you know, if you don't like living the second-largest metropolis in the US - there's always Omaha.

[Justine]

The noise from Burbank Airport impacts more areas than the immediate vicinity. I live in Studio City and the planes are still very low and loud when they fly over my house. My neighborhood is definitely not cheaper because of the plane noise!

There is currently a voluntary curfew in effect at BUR and I am very aware when the plane noise stops at 10pm, and in the morning that first plane at 7am always wakes me up.

I am actually quite amazed that the airport authority itself is asking for the curfew on behalf of neighbors and I think the FAA should take that into consideration, instead of siding with Fedex etc. There are reasons for the curfew. This is supposed to be a small community airport, keep it that way.

They have a curfew at John Wayne airport, by the way.

[Mufon]

The word "effect" actually can be used as a verb, if used along with an object, as it was in this sentence.

[Mark]

To the people arguing that the airport should have more rights than the residents: Yes, the airport was there first, but times change. Orange County's airport has very restrictive rules, and it's just accepted. Why can't the same happen for Burbank? Is it because Burbank is less wealthy than the area around John Wayne Airport?

[M]

I live in Burbank and don't even notice the noise. Pick your battles people, this one is weak.

[Voice of Reason]

In the 60's and 70's, I lived in the Lennox (near LAX) as a child. The planes were so low that I could read the letters on the fuselage. It was second nature to stop talking when a plane was flying close. I would never lived close to an airport or under a flight pattern. A lot of the residence were used to of the night time ban at the Burbank airport and this is a rude awakening of the real life in the big city.