Jackson Bell
AIRPORT DISTRICT --The ongoing struggle between Bob Hope Airport
officials and United Airlines over a voluntary curfew has apparently
spilled over into the new year.
Despite canceling its earliest flight on Sundays, the carrier has
pushed back other early-morning flights by just one minute -- still
three minutes before airport and city officials would like.
Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority Commissioner Don Brown
said the Chicago-based carrier should adhere to the voluntary flight
curfew and refrain from takeoffs and landings between 10 p.m. and 7
a.m. All the other airline carriers abide by the curfew, Brown added.
"United Airlines is supposed to be flying the friendly skies," he
said, referring to the carrier's motto. "But it's not being friendly
to Burbank or the surrounding communities."
On Wednesday, United eliminated a 6:47 a.m. flight to San
Francisco on Sundays but pushed back other 6:47 a.m. flights to 6:48
a.m., despite a letter from the Authority requesting departures no
earlier than 6:51, Authority spokesman Victor Gill said.
United spokesman Stephen Roth said the Sunday flight was pulled
because of a lack of consumer demand. As for the remaining early
flights, Roth said delays of one minute worked best for scheduling
purposes.
"United has been as responsive as possible to the voluntary curfew
while, at the same time, responsive to the travel demands and needs
of people in the community," he said. "[These demands] aren't from
people from Orange County or Ontario driving into Burbank; these are
people in the community."
Airport officials say they want the departure times moved back to
6:51 a.m. so that, after taxiing from the gate, the plane will be in
the air no earlier than 7 a.m.
Councilman Todd Campbell suggested that city workers along with
local residents stop flying with the carrier until it obeys the
curfew.
"I am pretty upset about this because it's a smack in the face to
the community and what it would like to see in terms of how an
airport should operate itself," Campbell said.
In July, city and airport officials sent letters to United asking
the carrier to eliminate its 6:40 a.m. Sunday flights. The carrier
agreed and made the change in September. But last month, the carrier
began rescheduling daily departures at 6:47 a.m., prompting another
letter requesting compliance from city and airport officials.
Brown said he plans to see how the curfew can be made mandatory.
"People ask me, 'Why are you fighting for a couple of minutes?
What's the big deal?' " Brown said. "Well, soon it's five minutes,
then 10 minutes, and before you know it, [carriers] will think they
can get away with anything."
