Background
Bob Hope Airport – formerly called Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport – is located in the City of Burbank, CA, but owned and operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. The authority comprises nine appointees, including three each from the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. Decisions regarding the operation of BUR, therefore, are not entirely controlled by the City of Burbank. However, development and building permits are controlled solely by the City of Burbank, which has led to a 10-year standoff regarding the construction of a new commercial terminal. As a result, general aviation is affected, specifically regarding the designation of land for other than commercial use.
There are two FBOs now serving BUR. The airport has a grandfathered 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. curfew affecting some Stage 2 aircraft; Gulfstream II and Gulfstream III aircraft must reduce weight in order to meet more restrictive requirements. A recently completed Part 150 noise study recommends, among other things, prohibition of Stage 2 aircraft less than 75,000 lbs. and a night curfew for all aircraft. As part of the current Part 161 noise study, the authority is attempting to fulfill these recommendations.
While the authority professes to value and support BUR and all its aviation elements, its actions indicate otherwise. Since September 11, 2001, Customs service has been reduced, but NBAA Members are attempting to establish a “pay-for-service” system.
Latest Developments
At Airports Coast to Coast, NBAA Fighting National, Local Threats to Access
June 11, 2015
At airports on the East and West coasts, NBAA is working to halt recently proposed access restrictions for business aviation. Amendments offered for inclusion in a major transportation-spending bill under consideration last week in the U.S. House of Representatives would constrain access at California’s Bob Hope Airport and New York’s East Hampton Airport. As NBAA COO Steve Brown noted, “Airports are part of a national system that requires a national approach to operational policy – not an approach based on local interests or pressure groups.”
NBAA: Nighttime Ban at California Airports Won’t Fly
February 28, 2011
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen today told four congressmen that a proposed ban on nighttime flights at Bob Hope Burbank (BUR) and Van Nuys (VNY) airports in southern California would hurt local businesses and severely impede interstate air commerce. “This amendment would establish exactly the type of ‘patchwork quilt’ of local restrictions that the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) was designed to prevent,” said Bolen in a letter to the congressmen.
NBAA Continues to Oppose Proposed Curfew at Burbank and Van Nuys Airports
August 16, 2010
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen wrote to the ranking officials on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in response to a proposed nighttime curfew at Bob Hope Burbank Airport (BUR) and Van Nuys Airport (VNY). In a letter to Reps. James L. Oberstar (D-8-MN) and John Mica (R-7-FL), Bolen said that a nighttime curfew would impact the utility of the national air transportation system as a whole. Reps. Brad Sherman (D-27-CA), Howard Berman (D-28-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-29-CA) requested that language be inserted in the pending FAA reauthorization bill to authorize a ban on aircraft operations between the hours of 10pm and 7am at the airports. “NBAA and our member companies are committed to working with communities through local fly friendly programs, aircraft upgrades to stage 4 technology and using aircraft specific departure and arrival profiles,” said Bolen.
Review the NBAA Letter (54KB, PDF)
Business Aviation Opponents in CA Take Their Case to Congress
August 2, 2010
Business aviation access at some California airports has been in contentious debate for years, as officials with Van Nuys (VNY) and Bob Hope (BUR) Airports have lobbied for restrictions on business airplanes from using the airports. NBAA Members have been given cause for renewed concern over the issue, because the airport officials have taken their case to Congress. At the urging of officials with VNY and BUR, California Reps. Brad Sherman (D-27-CA), Howard Berman (D-28-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-29-CA) sent a July 21 letter to Reps. James Oberstar (D-8-MN), and John Mica (R-7-FL) – Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the powerful U.S. House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure – requesting an exemption for VNY and BUR from the federal statute disallowing airports from enacting restrictions without approval from FAA officials.
Read a web article on the issue.
FAA Rules Against Nighttime Curfew Proposal at Burbank Airport
November 4, 2009
NBAA today welcomed a decision from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) denying a proposed ban on nighttime operations at Bob Hope Airport (BUR) in Burbank, CA. Earlier this year the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, owner and operator of the airport, filed an application seeking permission for a nighttime curfew on all operations at Bob Hope Airport. Following a careful analysis of the proposal, the FAA ruled that the proposal was “unreasonable,” in part because the curfew would hinder commerce and worsen congestion elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. “When businesses aviation access is preserved at airports, it’s also a win for nearby communities, which benefit from the jobs, investment and economic activity that are created. We applaud the FAA for this decision and will continue to work to preserve business aviation operations at Burbank and other public-use airports nationwide.”
Review the NBAA press release.
FAA Disapproves Burbank’s Part 161 Application For a Nighttime Curfew
November 2, 2009
Earlier this year, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority filed an application under Part 161 of the FAA’s regulations, seeking permission to impose a nighttime curfew on all operations at California’s Bob Hope Airport (BUR). Part 161 requires airports to obtain FAA approval before implementing any noise-based restrictions that would affect operations by Stage 3 aircraft. On October 30, 2009, the FAA issued an order disapproving the proposal, which means that BUR cannot implement the ban. The FAA found that the application fulfilled only two of the six statutory requirements that must be met by an applicant in order to obtain the agency’s approval. The FAA noted that BUR officials did not demonstrate that there would be a future noise problem and concluded that the curfew would worsen congestion elsewhere in the Los Angeles basin. NBAA and its Members had been among the parties that opposed the ban, and submitted comments explaining why the proposal did not meet the statutory criteria, which were cited by the FAA in support of its decision.
Review the FAA order disapproving a nighttime curfew (2.72 MB, PDF)
NBAA Working to Prevent Night Curfew at Burbank Airport
July 27, 2009
Last week, NBAA filed strenuous objections to a proposed nighttime curfew for California’s Bob Hope Airport (BUR), which is being reviewed by FAA. The curfew is subject to the FAA’s Part 161 procedures, which require the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to prepare a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the restrictions and solicit comments on the analysis from all interested stakeholders. The proposal cannot become effective unless the FAA determines that it meets several statutory standards and satisfies the FAA’s “balanced approach” to noise mitigation. NBAA’s objections, which are supported by a detailed analysis by the economic consulting firm GRA, Inc., explain that the airport authority has fallen far short of this standard and failed to make the cost-benefit data its analysis relies upon adequately available for public review.
Review comments filed by NBAA counsel (1.26 MB, PDF)
NBAA Taking Action at Critical Juncture on Burbank Airport Curfew
June 22, 2009
Within the next month, NBAA will provide extensive comments to the public docket for a six-month review process recently begun by the FAA to consider a mandatory curfew at Bob Hope Airport (BUR). As part of its review, the FAA will approve or reject proposed noise and access restrictions for Stage 3 aircraft on or before November 1, 2009. A 30-day comment period opened on June 22 for airport users and other interested parties to comment to the FAA, as detailed in an appended FAA docket titled, “Notice of Proposed Airport Access Restriction and Opportunity for Public Comment.” NBAA Members are encouraged to submit comments of their own to the docket. Review the announcement about the curfew review at BUR in the Federal Register Follow NBAA guidance on how to submit written comments to federal regulatory proposals by visiting NBAA’s Get Involved web site. Submit your comments on the government’s online public docket.
NBAA Leading Challenge to Proposed Burbank Airport Curfew
June 16, 2008
Bob Hope Airport is an good neighbor success story. Thanks to mostly voluntary efforts by NBAA members and others, and with the introduction of quieter aircraft, the noise contour for the airport – the outer limit of what the FAA and California authorities consider to be the area inconsistent with aircraft noise – has in recent years contracted significantly. No access restriction of any type could be justified based on the airport’s present record.
Nevertheless, as reported in the May/June edition of NBAA’s Business Aviation Insider, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is actively considering a mandatory nighttime curfew for Bob Hope Airport (BUR). Review the Insider article “Access Threats Mount at Three Southern California Airports.”
The curfew is subject to the FAA’s Part 161 procedures, requiring the authority to prepare a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the restrictions, and to solicit comments on the analysis from all interested stakeholders.
NBAA’s response to the authority’s proposal and analysis was prepared with support from nationally recognized transportation economists.
Review NBAA’s comments (1MB PDF).
As of this writing, comments have also been filed by the Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA) and the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA), which also oppose the curfew. Additional supplemental documents are available at www.burbankairport.com/authority/main.htm
If the authority wishes to proceed with its curfew proposal after reviewing the comments from NBAA and others, it must submit its curfew proposal and analysis directly to the FAA. The proposal cannot become effective unless the FAA determines that it meets several statutory standards and satisfies the FAA’s “balanced approach” to aircraft noise mitigation.
“As our comments make clear, NBAA and its members want to remain good neighbors at the airport, but being a good neighbor applies to both sides of the fence,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen.
“NBAA has prevailed in challenges similar to this one in the past, and we will continue to voice our opposition to a curfew for Bob Hope Airport, but we remain willing, as always, to work with the authority to address legitimate concerns about aircraft noise.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.