Burbank Airport : EXPANSION PLANS TAKING OFF
Burbank Airport has come a long way since the days when Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes frequented its airspace. It has grown tremendously since it opened in 1930 on 234 acres with a 27,000-square-foot terminal. Now 441 acres, it has a terminal of 163,344 square feet, 3,500 parking spaces and serves 4 million passengers a year. And still another expansion is on the horizon.
Citing longtime safety concerns, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority voted last year to build a new terminal that will be about four times the size of the current facility and cost about $200 million. About 5 million passengers per year are predicted by 1998, when the first phase of the expansion will be completed. Officials say that number will grow to 10 million by the project’s completion in 2010.
The expansion has not been without debate. A total of 2.5 million residents live within 10 miles of the airport and there are several schools nearby. Critics complain of noise and air pollution. Supporters counter that it will generate jobs to replace those lost after Lockheed decided to move in 1989.
History
- The beginning: When Burbank Airport opened with its five 300-by-3,600-foot runways, it was the nation’s first multimillion-dollar airport and provided more paved landing area than any other airport in the region. By 1934, it served as many as 98,000 passengers a year.
- Early aviators: During the 1930s, Amelia Earhart, a resident of North Hollywood, tested and repaired planes she purchased from Lockheed Aircraft, which had begun building wooden airframes in 1928 on an adjacent airstrip. Other early Burbank aviators were Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic; Wiley Post, who made the first solo flight around the world; and Howard Hughes, the aerospace tycoon.
New Terminal
The airport authority voted in March, 1993, to build a new 670,000-square-foot terminal with 12,300 parking spaces northeast of the runways. A new terminal had been under discussion since 1980, when the Federal Aviation Administration pressured airport officials to replace the current terminal, which is considered too close to the runways.
Construction will be in two phases. During Phase I, scheduled to be completed by 1998, a 465,000-square-foot building with 6,700 parking spaces on 60 acres will be built. The second phase will be completed in 2010.
Airlines at Burbank
Southwest Airlines had the largest increase in passengers at Burbank since 1992:
Airline 1992 1993 Percent change Southwest 1,856,211 2,742,035 47.72% United 816,276 714,406 -12.48 America West 432,598 316,953 -26.73 American 369,209 231,532 -37.29 Alaska 197,052 185,467 6.25 Delta 71,813 17,622 -75.46
On-Time Performance
According to figures compiled in December, 1993, Burbank ranked high against other Los Angeles-area airports for on-time arrival and departure rates:
Airport Arrival Departure Burbank 83.7% 87.4% LAX 75.9 85.3 Orange County 78.1 87.4 Ontario 80.8 88.0
Flights and Passengers
Takeoffs and landings have decreased....
1993: 207,325
...while number of passengers has increased
1993: 4,348,748
Source: Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority
