Airport starts publicity for curfew

BURBANK — The Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport Authority unanimously approved a $44,500 contract with a communications firm to inform the public through presentations, meetings and advertisements about the Bob Hope Airport’s efforts to obtain a nighttime curfew for all flights.

Cooper Communications also will have to inform the public that the airport would support a similar nighttime curfew at the Van Nuys Airport, Communication Firm President Martin Cooper said at Wednesday’s authority meeting.

The airport’s latest effort to inform the public about the full curfew recommendation is a component of its Part 161 Study, which requires local airports that are seeking to impose new noise rules to first study the impact, benefits and costs, give public notice, and get public comments of the noise rules before they submit their applications to the Federal Aviation Administration. After an application is submitted and the FAA deems it completed, the administration will decide on whether to approve the new noise restrictions.

Bob Hope Airport currently has in place a voluntary nighttime curfew for commercial flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. to cut down on noise for surrounding residential and business communities.

But the airport is completing its $6-million Part 161 Study to the FAA that would put a mandatory curfew on all nighttime departures and landings from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The authority anticipates making the study public at its legal committee meeting Wednesday, Airport Executive Director Dan Feger said. If the legal committee approves of the study, airport officials will advise their staff to submit to the FAA an application for a full curfew, he said.

“We think it’s appropriate right now to ask [Cooper] to help us put the message out there,” Feger said.

During a three-month period, the communications firm, which has been working on the study with the authority, will go to neighborhood councils and homeowners’ associations in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena, North Hollywood and Pacoima to inform them about the airport’s plans, Cooper said.

The firm also will reach out to aviation and elected officials as well as business owners and residents who are closest to the airport to garner support for the full curfew proposal, he said.

“There are two key objectives to this program,” Cooper said.