Fires mean air travel delays, cancellations

Tim Willert

Wildfires continued to burn throughout Southern California on

Tuesday, but air travel at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport returned

to normal after a Federal Aviation Administration radar facility

reopened.

Air-traffic control operations throughout the region had been

hampered by the temporary closure of the FAA’s Southern California

Terminal Radar Approach Control facility at the Marine Corps Air

Station Miramar near San Diego.

The facility, which was evacuated because of the Cedar fire in San

Diego County, reopened early Tuesday morning, Burbank Airport

spokesman Victor Gill said.

“It means that people can expect to have a fairly normal travel

experience,” Gill said. “It reduces a lot of uncertainly.”

Travelers passing through Burbank Airport on Sunday and Monday

faced numerous delays and some cancellations.

Patricia Cavanaugh was among those who took the disruption in

stride.

“These things happen,” Cavanaugh said Monday as she waited to

catch a Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland. “There’s nothing you

can do about it.”

Southwest, the airport’s primary carrier, reported delays of 60 to

90 minutes Monday morning. The Federal Aviation Administration

meanwhile, reported delays on all flights departing from Burbank

ranging from one hour and 31 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes and

longer.

Greer Doherty, a Sacramento resident visiting her sister in

Palmdale, was among those Southwest passengers who were stranded when

their Sunday flights were canceled.

“It’s nice to have another day with my sister,” Doherty said as

she waited in line to catch a flight Monday afternoon. “A lot of

other people are in worse situations, so this is pretty minor.”