Airport Lands on Hard Times : Travel: Mergers cut the number of carriers and reduced the passenger count at the Burbank facility. But the coming of a discount airline may change things.
In 1985, when Host International signed up to operate restaurants at the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in Burbank, airport officials thought passenger traffic would continue climbing gradually, as it had in previous years. After all, air travel was up nationwide, the population of the San Fernando Valley was growing and the local economy was strong.
It’s a measure of the bad times at the airport that Host International has been losing money at Burbank and airport officials recently agreed to cut the minimum fee Host pays the airport authority by 38%, to $800,000 a year.
When Host first negotiated its contract with Burbank, the fee was based on the number of enplanements--or people getting on planes--and an increase was projected each year. Since then, “enplanements have dropped off dramatically,” said Gary Lindstrom, a Host International spokesman.
Of the five major airports serving the Los Angeles area, only the 60-year-old Burbank Airport saw a decline in traffic last year, to 2.7 million passengers from 3 million in 1988 and a peak of 3.2 million in 1987.
The drop in business came mostly because of a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the airline industry that resulted in a reduced number of short, regional flights--the bread and butter of Burbank airport.
Many of the remaining airlines have cut back their shorter flights in favor of higher-priced long trips out of regional airports and offer slightly lower prices for flights out of major airports such as Los Angeles International.
When Alaska Airlines acquired Jet America in 1986, it reduced its business within California. And in 1987, when American Airlines purchased AirCal, American cut service at Burbank. The next year, PSA, formerly Burbank’s biggest carrier, was merged into USAir and USAir reduced its Burbank flights. Troubled Continental Airlines dropped the airport completely last year.
In 1986, 11 airlines flew out of Burbank; today there are only seven. About 60 flights a day currently leave the airport, compared to a peak of more than 80 a few years ago.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1989, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which governs the airport, reported a 2% gain in revenues to $14.8 million. But net income fell to $1.9 million, down 10% from $2.1 million in the previous year and 41% from $3.2 million in fiscal 1987.
Despite the problems, some Burbank airport authorities and local business leaders are optimistic. On April 16, the low-cost, no-frills air carrier Southwest Airlines, sometimes referred to as “the cattle car of the sky,” will start 10 daily flights to and from Oakland with a top fare of $59 one-way, and another six flights to an as-yet-unnamed location outside California.
“It’s going to give some new life to the airport,” said Zoe Taylor, executive director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to be a tremendous boost to the economy,” said Richard Messer, general manager of the Burbank Airport Hilton.
Southwest estimates that its Burbank flights will bring 350,000 additional passengers into the airport in the next year. Those passengers will generate between $600,000 and $700,000 a year in direct revenue for the airport--from such things as landing and gate fees, plus an unknown amount of “indirect” revenue from money they spend while they’re at the airport, said Elly Mixsell, an airport spokeswoman.
“Everyone that deplanes in Burbank is going to spend some money in Burbank,” said Richard Messer, general manager of the Burbank Airport Hilton.
Southwest’s success is crucial to the long-term prospects of the airport because a large increase in the number of passengers is needed to help the airport raise enough money to carry out its long-delayed plan to build a new terminal. The Federal Aviation Administration has pressured Burbank for many years to build a new terminal because the old one is too close to runways to meet modern safety standards, and there are concerns that a plane making a wayward landing or takeoff could crash into a row of parked planes or the terminal itself.
But land and construction for the new terminal is expected to cost $250 million, said Tom Greer, Burbank’s director of airport services. Preliminary plans call for the new terminal to have 18 gates, compared to 13 in the existing terminal. Greer said the airport must double its current passenger level to raise the necessary cash and sponsor a bond issue to pay for the new terminal .
Greer insisted that the project is necessary so the airport can comply with FAA standards. He said between 2 million and 3 million people who live near the Burbank Airport drive to Los Angeles International each year. By offering more flights and through aggressive marketing, he hopes to lure them to Burbank.
“If we don’t get the passengers, we don’t get the terminal,” he said.
Will Southwest be enough to resuscitate the Burbank airport?
Roy Fyffe, manager of National Car Rental in Burbank, was skeptical. “Burbank has been here too long,” Fyffe said. “If it was going to happen, it would have already happened.”
Even if Southwest boosts activity at Burbank, it wouldn’t necessarily be a clear-cut win for all businesses. Travel agents, for instance, work on commission and don’t have as much incentive to sell Southwest’s inexpensive tickets.
But many local businesses expect to get a boost from Southwest. Julia Parmann predicted the Avis Rent a Car she manages at the airport would get 30 more car rentals a day, while Budget Rent a Car, about half a mile away, is considering a move to the airport. Jim Watson, vice president of sales and marketing for Super Shuttle, said he expects a 15% increase in business at the airport.
Greer blamed much of the slowdown at Burbank on the airport authority. In recent years, he said, the airport has concerned itself more with community relations and trying to assuage local residents who complained about jet noise.
“Whenever an airline reduced service, we just sat back,” Greer said. But now, he contends, the airport authority is taking an aggressive stance in trying to attract new airlines and marketing the airport to the public. Southwest is just the start of that, he said.
Southwest already has between 10,000 and 12,000 reservations for its Burbank-Oakland flights, said David Brown, a Southwest spokesman. “All indications are it’s going to be a very successful airport for us,” he said.
Southwest’s top price for a one-way ticket to Oakland will be $59 and some advance tickets will be sold for as little as $29. Other airlines currently charge a basic coach fare of $186. Already USAir has said it plans to offer lower fares to Oakland beginning April 1, including a $59 one-way ticket. United Airlines recently announced it would offer three flights a day between Burbank and Oakland, starting May 1.
Burbank Airport was carved out of farmland in 1930 by the company that later became United Airlines. In 1940, the airport was sold to Lockheed Aircraft Co. and was used to test and service aircraft and for commercial and military flights. During World War II, the airfield and airport buildings were camouflaged to look like open fields and houses in case enemy aircraft flew overhead.
After the war, Burbank Airport was quickly supplanted in size and prominence by Los Angeles International, which thrived by servicing national and international flights. In 1978, the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, represented by the airport authority, bought the Burbank airport from Lockheed. However, the airport is still managed by a Lockheed subsidiary and Lockheed’s “Skunk Works,” where stealth planes have been developed, is still adjacent to the airport.
Today, Burbank is a commuter airport, serving mostly business travelers from the local entertainment and aerospace industries and weekend pleasure travelers. The airport looks much as it did in its early days. The original terminal and the centerpiece control tower remain, and passengers still board planes by walking out from the terminal and climbing up mobile stairs. Deplaning passengers pick up their suitcases from a baggage-claim area located on the sidewalk just outside the main terminal--a far cry from the frenzied scenes at Los Angeles International baggage claims.
Weekday mornings and late afternoons are peak hours at the Burbank airport--much like freeway rush-hour traffic. But between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., the airport falls silent as the airlines observe a voluntary curfew on flights.
Meanwhile, Lockheed has announced plans to move most of its operations to Palmdale by next year and the airport hopes to buy up to 110 acres of Lockheed land on the east side of the airport, on which it might build the new terminal. If all goes well, Greer said, ground would be broken on a new terminal in three to five years.
GREATER L.A.’S COMMERCIAL AIRPORTS
PASSENGERS
‘89 ’88 Percent change Los Angeles International 45.0 mil 44.4 mil +1% Ontario 5.3 mil 4.8 mil +10% John Wayne (Santa Ana) 4.5 mil 4.5 mil +1% Burbank 2.7 mil 3.0 mil -11% Long Beach 1.4 mil 1.1 mil +25%
TAKEOFFS & LANDINGS*
‘89 ’88 Percent change Los Angeles International 581,194 622,427 -7% Ontario 144,631 138,826 +4% John Wayne (Santa Ana) 528,096 533,531 -1% Burbank 248,158 219,843 +13% Long Beach 465,630 442,939 +5%
* Includes commercial, commuter, cargo, general aviation and military flights
Sources: Federal Aviation Administration; Airport Operators Council International; Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario Airport, John Wayne Airport, Burbank Airport and Long Beach Airport
