Airlines Fly in the Face of Curfew : Airport: United, Southwest say early flights are a response to customer demand and will continue despite voluntary ban.

United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, the two most frequent offenders of Burbank Airport’s voluntary curfew on commercial flights, will continue to violate the policy until either passenger counts drop or federal regulators intervene, spokesmen for both airlines said.

Neither airline has decided whether it will formally protest a mandatory curfew on all flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. that was proposed last week by Burbank Airport Commissioner William Paparian of Pasadena.

If approved and backed by the Federal Aviation Administration, the stiffer curfew would help appease many residents in the southeast San Fernando Valley who are impacted by aircraft noise every day.

There is a voluntary curfew on commercial flights that depart between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., and a mandatory one during those same hours on freight carriers, as well as some general aviation planes and older jets.

Of the airport’s average 180 commercial flights departing and arriving daily, United has three, to Oakland, San Francisco and Denver, that take off before 7 a.m. most days of the week, in violation of the voluntary curfew. Southwest has two that regularly depart for Oakland and Las Vegas at 6:10 a.m. and 6:55 a.m.

Both airlines, which say they use the quietest commercial jets available, contend they are simply trying to accommodate an increase in demand by business people eager to start their day early.

“Our position is we will try to respond to the demands of our customers,” said Edward Shelswell-White of Southwest. “Any flight that is not successful will be pulled regardless of the curfew.

“Burbank is a commercial airport open for business and we need to be able to offer our customers flights when they demand it,” he added. “We understand [residents’] concerns, but we think there’s a flip side to that also.”

United spokesman Joe Hopkins agreed, saying: “We carry a significant number of passengers on all of those flights. It gets people up to Oakland or San Francisco and gives them a longer day before they return home.”

Neither airline would release specific information about how well their early-morning flights perform, but Hopkins said that United’s three flights before 7 a.m. do about as well as others scheduled later in the day.

Hopkins declined to say whether United would comply with a mandatory curfew. But for Southwest, there seemed to be no question about it: “Obviously, we would comply with any mandatory curfews blessed by the FAA,” Shelswell-White said.

A third airline, Alaska, offers a flight to Seattle that leaves Burbank at 6:50 a.m. daily. Airline officials, however, maintain that Alaska does not violate the voluntary curfew because its airplane does not get off the ground until at least 7 a.m.

In a huge victory for nearby residents upset by aircraft noise, Burbank Airport commissioners voted last week to seek the FAA’s approval for a mandatory curfew, an important first step that is required under federal law.

While heartened by the action supported by six of the airport’s nine commissioners, some nearby residents said they remain angered by United’s and Southwest’s decision to continue operating during curfew hours.

“It certainly shows what kind of good neighbors they want to be,” said Jim Gordon, co-founder of a Burbank homeowners group located under the airport’s flight path.

“They obviously don’t give a damn about their neighbors, the people impacted by the takeoffs in the early-morning hours or late-evening hours. What the hell difference does it make if we get awakened by quiet planes or loud planes?”