The proposed curfew has generated a significant amount of interest in the community, which led the authority to move its meeting Monday from the airport Sky Room to the Celebration/ Gala room of the hotel to accommodate the more than two dozen community activists, airport officials and representatives from the city of Burbank who were on hand to hear the details of the study and opinions of commissioners, who all praised the proposed curfew.
“I was around when we started this, and we’ve done what we told the public we would do,” Burbank Airport Commissioner Charles Lombardo said. “This is the best thing we can do.”
But that gratification could be put on ice as implementation of the curfew — something no other airport in the country has tried to do since the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 that banned airports from mandating flight times unless approved by the FAA — faces an uphill battle, Lombardo said.
“A lot of people don’t want it,” he said. “It opens up the possibility [of a curfew] to all airports. It sets a precedent, and they think it would create chaos. They are following it closely.”
Residents such as Laverne Thomas are also paying close attention to the curfew.
“This is a great day for the city of Burbank and its residents,” Thomas said. “We need to move forward in a positive way.”
After the authority submits the curfew application to the FAA, the governmental agency is required to rule on it within six months, but it is unclear whether the assessment will take that long, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor.
