FAA Official to Hear Burbank Airport Feud

Opponents on both sides of a long-running battle over the future of Burbank Airport will get separate but equal hearings Tuesday before the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, who will fly in from Washington in the latest attempt to mediate the feud.

FAA Administrator Jane Garvey will spend 90 minutes each with proponents and opponents of a proposal to build a larger terminal at the airport, responding to pressure more than 15 years ago from the FAA to relocate the passenger terminal farther from the runways.

Airport Authority officials and their supporters have been arguing ever since with Burbank city officials and airport neighbors. The airport wants the larger terminal to accommodate increased air traffic while the city and neighbors want to limit flights to reduce noise.

The issue in recent years has evolved into a costly court battle with little end in sight.

“This is an attempt to take the battle out of the courts and to put it into the hands of the FAA,” said Tom Waldman, spokesman for Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Mission Hills), who arranged the visit by Garvey.

A series of private meetings are scheduled Tuesday morning at the Burbank Hilton, with Burbank officials and other anti-noise groups scheduled to meet first with Garvey, followed by a meeting with pro-airport forces.

Waldman said the two groups will be kept separate to avoid antagonistic outbursts.

“We want to conduct the meetings in as much of an emotion-free atmosphere as possible,” Waldman said. “Rather than for her [Garvey] to be a witness to a potential argument, we wanted her to just hear the facts from both sides. The hope is that this will be the start of a process in which the FAA will be in an active role to resolve the Burbank Airport matter.”

Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom called Garvey’s visit “a fact-finding mission.”

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said, “I think the expectations of all parties are modest but filled with good will and hopes that something will happen.”

Following the sessions in Burbank, Garvey is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon with warring factions over proposed expansion of services at Los Angeles International Airport, Ovrom said.

Garvey has told local and federal officials that she plans to appoint an FAA representative to work exclusively with Los Angeles and Burbank in resolving conflicts over airport issues.