Burbank City Council, Hollywood Burbank Airport discuss noise issues
Burbank City Council asked officials from Hollywood Burbank Airport this week to continue their outreach efforts to residents regarding concerns about the airport.
The two agencies held a joint meeting on Tuesday to discuss the airport’s operations and procedures and the possible causes of reportedly increased noise from aircraft leaving the airfield.
Patrick Lammerding, the airport’s deputy executive director of planning and development, walked council members through a presentation he gave in December to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which owns the airfield, regarding what affects an airplane’s rate of climb and if the Next Generation Air Transportation System, better known as NextGen, has anything to do with louder takeoffs.
Lammerding said a heavier aircraft load and hotter air temperatures both increase the takeoff distances and decrease the rate of climb. He added that a tailwind can also prolong the distance an airplane needs to travel to take off.
Another factor affecting noise levels are the planes themselves. Lammerding said the community noise equivalent level boundary — the average noise level in an area over a period of time — around Hollywood Burbank has gotten significantly smaller due to advancements in aerospace technology.
In 1986, the noise boundary around the airport was 1,533 acres, but it dipped down to 549 acres in 2015, Lammerding said.
However, he said the boundary may have gotten slightly larger over the past few years because the economy is recovering, which has resulted in more flights leaving the airfield.
Although airport officials have stated the possible causes of increased aircraft noise at the airport, many residents have argued that NextGen, a new satellite-based radar system implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration, is the cause of all of their concerns.
NextGen is designed to make air travel safer and more fuel and time efficient.
Lammerding said procedures at the airport have not changed since the implementation of the radar system in March, but some residents have begged to differ.
In light of the concerns some residents have had, the airport authority will host a special meeting of its operations and development committee at 9 a.m. Feb. 1 to speak with Burbank residents about their concerns, said Frank Miller, the airport’s executive director.
“We are not here to push back or refute any of the concerns that you’re hearing or that we are hearing,” he said.
Additionally, Miller said airport authority members will look into working with the city in writing a joint letter to the FAA to voice their concerns regarding NextGen.
To further be receptive to the community, Councilman Jess Talamantes asked Miller to consider hosting quarterly evening meetings, which would better suit the schedules of residents.
However, the airport authority voted during its meeting on Jan. 16 to remove a section in its meeting rules that allowed for the commission to schedule night meetings.
The airport authority, like the City Council, has the ability to hold a special meeting whenever it chooses, including evenings.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
