Skies May Be Clearing for Airport

Take a walk through the Burbank airport terminal and you’re taking a walk back in time.

Built before the Jet Age, the main terminal started out servicing biplanes. And when aviation didn’t cover business costs, legend has it, owner United Airports Ltd. sold hay on the side. Today, the hay and biplanes are long gone. But 69 years after it opened on Memorial Day 1930, Burbank airport still harks back to another era in aviation.

But perhaps not for long, as adversaries in the long-running battle over a new terminal appear close to reaching agreement over a 16-gate replacement terminal (with possible expansion to 19 gates) that would be twice the size of the current facility.

Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority officials say that a new complex is long overdue. The main terminal building is just 225 feet from the runway--a convenience in 1930, but a distance considered dangerously close in 1999. And there are no enclosed jet ways running from the terminal to the boarding hatch. Passengers walk out onto the pavement and climb stairs to board, even in the rain.

Inside, officials say, the waiting areas and airline operations facilities are cramped and overcrowded. To help cope with demand, the East Concourse was added in 1987. But it was built as a no-frills interim facility, without the kinds of amenities air travelers have come to expect at airports.

“The biggest pain is that it’s too crowded,” said Fritz Anderson, 35, a Pacific Bell employee. “There’s not enough seats at the gates. The food is terrible. I don’t care what it looks like, but there’s not much to look at.”

The new terminal is far from a done deal. Public hearings and approvals are still ahead, and concerns remain that the new terminal will lead to a dramatic increase in flights and noise. Even so, Burbank officials who have been fighting the project say that they appear to be closer to a resolution now than at any time in the past four years.

But what exactly will the new complex be like? And how will it change the passenger experience?

Airport and airline officials were taken off-guard by those questions--having had an almost single-minded focus on the fight to build the new terminal.

“We’ve been waging a war,” said Carl Raggio, who represents Glendale on the tri-city Airport Authority. “And we’ve forgotten all about the things that the people who go to the airport want.”

Though they emphasized that plans have not been finalized, airport officials were able to discuss in general terms the improvements they hope to realize.

“We want a facility that the community can be proud of,” said Dios Marrero, the airport’s acting executive director. “We also want an airport that serves the business and leisure traveler with the amenities that each requires.”

The terminal is now located near the junction of the two runways. The new terminal would be built on a 130-acre parcel along the North-South runway, parallel to Hollywood Way.

One immediate improvement would be on the outside--a new, double-deck complex with consistent design themes, compared with the current complex that is an architectural amalgam spanning the 1930s to the 1980s.

And at 330,000 square feet, the terminal would be twice the size of the existing building--with room to add restaurants, shops and other concessions now in short supply.

Conceptual designers envision entranceways lined with palm trees, with upper and lower terminal decks for arrivals and departures.

Corridors and waiting areas would be expanded, and the terminal would have jet ways to keep boarding passengers out of the elements.

Walls would be decorated with art reflecting community history as well as recreational attractions in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, the three cities that jointly run the airport.

Planners also envision a history exhibit. The airport was formerly owned by Lockheed Corp. (now Lockheed Martin), which produced generations of warplanes and cutting-edge aircraft at its adjacent factory and “Skunk Works” research and development facility.

The terminal would include bigger baggage claim areas with updated carousel equipment. Travelers wishing to conduct business would have access to a 3,000-square-foot area with fax machines, computers with Internet access and teleconferencing facilities.

Plans also call for bookstores, other specialty shops, coffee bars and a food court, which would offer cuisine from sushi to barbecue.

Despite doubling the facility’s size, airport officials say their aim is to keep the overall terminal proportional to the surrounding community.

That is an important consideration to air travelers like Lorren Deakin, a National Guardsman who uses the airport twice a month.

Deakin says that despite the airport’s physical shortcomings, its convenience and small-town feel give it a big edge over larger airports like Los Angeles International.

“It’s pretty much all together,” said Deakin, waiting for a flight to Sacramento a recent Thursday afternoon. “It has a pretty good flow for people arriving. You don’t have to go somewhere else for a rental car, it’s all right here.”

Indeed, some of that feel may be lost. The new terminal would have a multilevel parking structure, as well as “sky bridges” to provide pedestrian access to the terminal from the upper levels. Shuttle buses and rental cars would be located outside the terminal building.

Airport engineer Dan Feger said planners want to keep the airport’s current easy-in, easy-out personality.

The terminal project is not a sure thing. Approval from the city of Burbank is far from certain. And the project could also be affected by a Burbank Superior Court case, expected to be decided next week, in which Lockheed Martin is seeking $128 million for the property.

The airport wants to pay $38 million. Being forced to pay the higher sum, officials say, could lead to a downsized terminal. But assuming that issues of price and size are settled, Burbank city officials are now talking as if the project has become viable again.

Charles Lombardo, a Burbank representative on the Airport Authority, said the city will welcome a new terminal as long as it will not lead to a great increase in flights and noise.

“The public will be pleasantly surprised when they see what 330,000-plus contiguous square feet will bring from the standpoint of comfort and functionality,” Lombardo said.

“I think people can finally picture an actual replacement terminal. That focus should be the driving force for all the parties in this matter from now on.”

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Airport Outlook

Burbank airport--long favored by travelers seeking a faster alternative to Los Angeles International--might get a new terminal twice the size of the existing facility. The two-level terminal would allow the airport to handle arrivals and departures more efficiently and add amenities. But critics fear it would lead to a dramatic increase in aircraft noise and street traffic.

COMPARISONS

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Proposed Terminal Existing Terminal Enclosed space 330,000 sq. ft. 170,000 sq. ft. Parking spaces 6,700 5,000 Gates 16-19 14 Annual passengers 5,400,000 5,000,000 Annual total flights 283,000 190,000

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Source: Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport; Researched by ROGER KUO / Los Angeles Times