FedEx Request Hits Turbulence in Burbank

Federal Express Corp. has told Burbank Airport officials that it wants its planes to begin operating before 7 a.m., a move that could set off fresh criticism that the airport is not doing enough to back up its voluntary 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew.

Airport officials have voiced disapproval of the request, but they have no legal authority to forbid the flights, an airport attorney warned Monday.

Several weeks ago, Reno Air cut short its bid for 6:40 a.m. takeoffs to San Jose after enduring two weeks of criticism by city of Burbank elected officials and public threats of retaliation against the airline.

Undeterred by that controversy, Federal Express said it intends to add one daily flight, arriving in Burbank at 6:12 a.m., Tuesday through Friday. Another would take off at 6:47 a.m., but only for several days just before Christmas to handle the holiday delivery rush, according to the company.

Federal Express defended the flights in an Oct. 19 letter to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, the political body that operates the airport. The company said the early flights are needed to meet the growing needs of the local business community while responding to demands for earlier delivery times.

“We are sensitive to the community, and certainly businesses are part of the community as well,” FedEx spokesman Jess Bunn said Monday.

“As more companies like medical-pharmaceuticals, movie studios, computer and software manufacturers move to just-in-time delivery of their high-value goods, our volumes have increased. This flight allows us to better serve them.”

But airport officials, stung by past criticism, are reluctant to go along with the flights.

Pointing to the Reno Air controversy and the voluntary curfew, Burbank Airport Executive Director Tom Greer warned Federal Express in a reply Friday that the Boeing 727s the company wants to use are significantly noisy.

That was followed Monday by the airport authority’s legal committee, which voted 2 to 1 to recommend to the full authority that the FedEx request for a schedule change be denied at the authority’s meeting next week.

“We have two concerns at Burbank Airport,” said airport spokesman Victor Gill. “What type of plane is flown and at what time? This new flight falls into both categories.”

“If you thought Reno Air was going to disturb area residents, wait until you hear the racket these Federal Express planes will make,” said Airport Commissioner Charlie Lombardo, one of three Burbank representatives on the authority.

“Each airline pushes the envelope further. At this rate, we’ll see air carriers flying in here at 4 a.m.”

But Airport Counsel Richard Simon said the authority can’t force the carrier to abide by a curfew as long as the carrier uses the quietest aircraft--those classed as Stage III.

Burbank city officials--who have been waging a legal and political battle with the airportfor years over noise--countered that the problem could be easily solved by a mandatory curfew.

A mandatory curfew, however, can only be imposed by the federal government, after a lengthy and expensive review called a Part 161 study.

Currently, four flights take off between 6 and 7 a.m. each day, despite the voluntary curfew. They are particularly galling to anti-noise activists.

The airport authority tried unsuccessfully this month to persuade all airlines operating there to abide by the voluntary curfew, with no exceptions.

After the airlines rejected the request, the airport authority voted to proceed with measures for a Part 161 study, leading to a possible mandatory curfew.