Airport

Parking numbers just don't add up On July 26, 2004, the city of Burbank announced that the development agreement about to be signed at that time would allow the airport to have 9,459 parking spaces. I haven't heard anything to the contrary. What is wrong with this picture? There has been adequate parking for two years. To my way of thinking, the current explanation about parking this season is just a lot of spin ("Plenty of parking at airport," Aug. 23). It covers up the serious understatement of available parking spaces.

For families with autistic children, the stress and anxiety of air travel is a unique challenge - which is why JetBlue is partnering with Bob Hope Airport in Burbank to give those families a chance for an air-travel dress rehearsal. JetBlue's Wings For Autism program is coming to the West Coast for the first time and it hold a trial run from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the airport. PHOTOS: Wings for Autism comes to California for first time at Bob Hope Airport The program, which was started in Boston three years ago, allows families with autistic children to practice air travel, from checking in and security screenings to boarding a plane and meeting pilots and the flight crew.

Bob Hope Airport officials approved additional parking rate increases this week to tackle steady revenue drops caused by declining passenger activity that's expected to be exacerbated by JetBlue's decision to eliminate all daytime flights at the airfield as of Jan. 6. The decision will eliminate one daily flight to JFK International Airport in New York City and another to Las Vegas. JetBlue's evening service to JFK will continue. A spokeswoman for the airline, Tamara Young, said in a statement that customer demand is “the ultimate factor in determining a route or flight schedule.” And despite cutbacks in Burbank, JetBlue's overall network continues to expand, Young said.

The Burbank Leader's recent editorial and news coverage of Bob Hope Airport has been disappointing, to say the least. The Leader ran a correction of its Jan. 14 editorial that said the exit of American Airlines would mean a loss of 3.9 million annual passengers at Bob Hope Airport, a figure that overshot the mark by a whopping 3.6 million. Correction appreciated, but the original error was not. Then followed a feeble attempt to analyze and critique the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority's ongoing evaluation of the financial feasibility of building the Regional Intermodal Transportation Center, implying that the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena were somehow at risk, and calling for a “serious and thorough evaluation” of that financial risk - as if no such evaluation were taking place.

After a couple of false starts and an arduous vetting process, Burbank Bob Hope Airport officials finally let the dirt fly Friday, celebrating a groundbreaking for the airport's new transportation center that has long been in the making. In the absence of a new terminal, expectations are high that the new 520,000-square-foot, $112.6-million transportation center will do more than just draw more passengers to the airport through bus and rail connections. What the aging airfield needs is a major make-over and a marketing recast.

AIRPORT DISTRICT — An employee who recently underwent a “nuclear-related” medical procedure set off alarms Friday afternoon at Bob Hope Airport, briefly interrupting service while authorities tried to track down the source of the sensor reading. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority employee had recently undergone a medical procedure that involved some sort of radioactive element, causing detection equipment to produce a “strong reading” about 12:50 p.m., airport Police Chief Ed Skvarna said.

Despite a precipitous drop in parking revenues and the loss of American Airlines, Bob Hope Airport managed to squeak ahead of budget projections for fiscal year 2012, according to a report released this week. According to the year-end fiscal numbers released to the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday, Bob Hope Airport took in $4,677 more than what was anticipated, and was hampered mostly by a major drop in parking revenues, officials reported. Parking revenues, which traditionally made up about 40% of the airport's total operating revenues, came in $732,196 under budget - a 3.8% decrease from what was projected.

AIRPORT DISTRICT — Bob Hope Airport officials Monday unanimously approved a $96-million budget that will pay for several major infrastructure projects, such as runway improvements and work on a new regional transit center. The 2010-11 budget for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority comes amid a drop in passenger traffic, fluctuating fuel costs and overall uncertainty regarding the national economic recovery. Despite ballooning more than $20 million over the last year, the budget does not increase charges to airlines or rely on reserves.

An officer with the Bob Hope Airport police department has filed suit against the airfield's owner and a sergeant on the force, alleging discrimination and retaliation because he is gay. In the lawsuit, Richard Ellis claims the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority didn't do anything to stop the harassment, even after being notified of the situation. A status conference on the case is scheduled for Feb. 21 in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Superior Court website.