FAA Chief Said to Be Planning Role in Airport Dispute

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration met Wednesday with two San Fernando Valley congressmen, who said the FAA chief promised to come to the Valley and play a “proactive role” in settling the long-running dispute over construction of a larger terminal at Burbank Airport.

In an hourlong session with Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Mission Hills) and Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), FAA Administrator Jane Garvey discussed the airport controversy and cited plans to come to Los Angeles to broker a solution to the dispute, Berman said.

FAA spokesman Elliot Brenner declined to confirm Berman’s version, saying it was too early to comment on the session.

But Berman, whose district includes Valley neighborhoods south and west of the airport, called the meeting “a major breakthrough.” “This the first time in the history of this long and often bitter dispute that a top FAA official has agreed to play a proactive role in reaching a reasonable compromise,” the congressman said. “By getting involved, administrator Garvey can provide assurances that reasonable compromises will garner FAA approval.”

Burbank Airport officials greeted news of possible FAA involvement with caution, noting that a 1994 visit by then-FAA Administrator David Hinson resulted in what airport spokesman Victor Gill called “no perceptible change in airport policy.”

“I think the congressman is playing to his constituents,” said Carl Raggio, a Glendale representative on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which governs the airport.

“If he wants to get involved, have him influence the Burbank City Council and their commissioners to follow the process.”

But Burbank officials--who have been waging a bitter and expensive legal fight to block construction of the proposed terminal--disagreed with that assessment, arguing that Garvey’s fresh eye could be just what the two sides need to break the complex stalemate.

“The city welcomes her involvement,” Burbank Mayor Bob Kramer said. “For far too long the FAA has been unwilling to get involved in the dispute. If they became an active participant it may help us resolve our differences.”

“It’s a very hopeful sign,” added Councilman Ted McConkey, an outspoken critic of the Burbank Airport Authority. “I’m looking forward to meeting with the FAA officials and getting this whole thing behind us.”

Burbank officials long have argued the Airport Authority’s plans to build a 19-gate terminal building would bring more noise and traffic. The city also has insisted on caps and curfews for arriving and departing flights at the airport, which serves 5 million passengers every year.

The airport commission argues that airport traffic depends on the demand from airline passengers, who will use the airport regardless of the terminal size.

Unable to reach a compromise, the factions have been locked in a court battle since 1996 over the airport’s effort to purchase 130 acres for the terminal.

For a short time, it appeared the city might be winning when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl J. West ruled last month that state law allowed Burbank to invoke local powers to block expansion.

But about a week later, West wrote another opinion, saying Burbank signed over those powers when the city agreed to run the airport under a joint-powers authority. Each of the three cities that formed the commission can appoint three of the panel’s nine commissioners.

That decision, which the Burbank City Council immediately voted to appeal, will be fought as high as the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary, Burbank officials have said.

For its part, the FAA generally has steered clear of the Burbank Airport controversy, though it touched off the entire quarrel when it urged airport officials in 1980 to replace the current terminal building, saying it was too close to the runway for safety.

Berman said lack of involvement has allowed the Airport Authority to resist efforts at compromise.

“The Airport Authority has a history of using the FAA as an excuse for not pursuing compromise,” he said. “Without an active FAA effort to facilitate a compromise, it will be many years before the first shovelful of dirt is dug.”

But Chris Holden, Pasadena airport commissioner, said the authority has been working with the FAA all along.

“We have had ongoing discussions with the FAA and we’ve basically carried the banner of the agency into mediation and into court,” he said. “If there’s a role the FAA can play in brokering a resolution to the conflict, that would be welcomed.”