Councilman Proposes International Flights for Burbank Airport

In a move that Burbank officials described as “pouring gasoline over a roaring fire,” a Pasadena city councilman floated a plan this week to allow international flights into Burbank Airport.

Councilman William Paparian said in a memo to Pasadena’s mayor and City Council that international flights could boost local trade and tourism, and urged the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to study the feasibility of such a plan before approving a design for a new 19-gate terminal.

“I’m not suggesting we start looking at flights to another continent,” said Paparian, one of Pasadena’s three representatives on the nine-member airport commission. “But if we can fly to Dallas-Fort Worth and Seattle, Wash., we can possibly be flying to Mexico City and airports in Canada.”

The time was ripe for discussion of his proposal, Paparian said, because a new terminal would have to incorporate facilities for the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service if it were to handle international flights.

Thus far, the Pasadena City Council has merely discussed Paparian’s proposal, and taken no action. The proposal would have to be approved by the Airport Authority to move forward, according to airport officials.

But given the tendency of Pasadena and Glendale airport commissioners to vote as a block on issues related to the proposed terminal, Burbank city leaders expressed concerns about the idea Friday.

“I think it demonstrates the Airport Authority and the commissioners from Pasadena have been leading us down the garden path,” Burbank City Councilman Ted McConkey said. “They want to dump the additional noise pollution and curfew violations on Burbank for their own economic benefit, and to hell with the citizens of Burbank.”

“The authority was formed for the purpose of preserving this as a small commuter, regional airport,” Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom said. “Now the people in charge of it want to turn it into a monstrosity.”

The Airport Authority has argued that growth should be determined by passenger demand while the city of Burbank has sought caps on the number of flights, as well as a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, to curb noise and pollution. The two sides have fought an emotional battle in court since 1996.

Citing its commitment to run the airport under a joint powers agreement with the other cities, a judge ruled against Burbank in February, saying the city could not use a provision of state law to block the new terminal from being constructed on a 130-acre plot owned by Lockheed Martin Corp. Last week, though, Burbank went back to court, arguing the airport was failing to abide by city zoning laws in its plans for expansion.

But Paparian said he disagreed with the assumption that flights to and from Mexico would mean an increase in noise or the number of flights.

“This [plan] is within the context of the existing growth we have, of the existing curfew, the runway configuration and the type of aircraft,” Paparian said, adding that Burbank’s elected leaders were “pandering to nimbyism.”

Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, California exports to Mexico have risen dramatically, making it worthwhile to explore the notion of serving Mexican cities from Burbank, Paparian said.

“This validates the fears of Burbank residents, who long feared that its airport would become another LAX,” said Burbank airport commissioner Charles Lombardo. “It might benefit the region, but solely at Burbank’s expense.”

Others said it was too early to tell.

“I thought discussing it now was premature, but perhaps it is something that should be looked at in the future,” said Joyce Streator, who serves with Paparian on the Pasadena council and is president of the Burbank Airport Commission. “Right now we have to acquire land and get the final approval of a design so we can go forward. That’s our highest priority.”