Burbank Airport

All-Area Track Meet to pit region's best Over the years, the Burbank Invitational was the premier high school track and field meet of the season. However, without an all-weather track in which to hold the event, the invitational has fallen by the wayside. However, thanks to the efforts of Burbank High Coach Darin Wolf, the area's best will have an event to take part in this season. The first All-Area Track Meet will take place March 12 at Burroughs' Memorial Field.

Rima Shah After a period of slump due to the declining economy and travel slowdown after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Burbank hotel industry is finally moving toward recovery. The increase in the revenues for the hotel industry, which can be measured by the transient occupancy tax, increased by almost 16% in the last quarter of this fiscal year, said Ruth Davidson-Guerra, Burbank's assistant community development director. "In both occupancy and rates, 2004 was a strong year for the hotel industry," said Robert Balmer, general manager of the Burbank Airport Hilton.

Burbank airport is the right size now A lot has been said about the airport safety issue. Seemingly, most of it is in the negative. However, one should look to the fact that, in order to continue to operate, the FAA must certify the airport annually. The FAA has never shut down operations of the airport -- and as long as it remains a "regional" airport with current, or slightly more air traffic than current levels -- it won't happen. I have more of a problem with airport "safety" when you view it in the expansion context.

Surprise, surprise -- the Bob Hope Airport officially claims to have extended an olive branch Oct. 27 to the city of Burbank, unanimously approving an agreement that would halt construction or even planning a new terminal for a decade -- oh, but they could add gates to the existing terminal in seven years. We're all comforted they didn't say they were extending an olive branch to the residents, and being really good neighbors. The question of the day: What is Burbank gaining/losing?

Darleene Barrientos It's not often that you can put several adults and an equal number of teenagers in a room together to meet eye to eye on issues like cheating, fairness and ethics. Yet the Glendale Unified School District has accom- plished this feat for the past 20 years, during its annual high school Youth, Leadership and the Future conference. The conference invites teens from high schools in Glendale, Burbank and La Canada Flint- ridge to pair up with local community leaders to discuss the choices that students have and how they apply to adult life.

Mark R. Madler With the announcement this week that commercial airline service will resume at Palmdale Airport, officials with the Bob Hope Airport are not expecting effects on its operation. Airport spokesman Victor Gill said the two airports are trying to reach different passengers. "I don't think their service area will infringe on the service area of the Burbank airport," Gill said. Palmdale is one of four airports operated by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners.

This is part two of Carolyn Berlin's letter regarding the Burbank- Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. (Re: Response to Airport Authority President Charlie Lombardo and Council comments involving the latest airport deal.) As for Measure B, which was put before the voters by the City Council in 2000 and passed with 22,339 votes, almost as many votes as the community's initiative, the question was: "Shall proposed Section 11-112 be added to the Burbank Municipal Code?

Other airports should learn from Burbank's mistake I've read with interest Rex Ricks' and Douglas Blaul's exchanges over whether or not the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro should have been converted into a civil airport or developed for other uses, as is now the plan. One of the main reasons for converting El Toro into a civil airport lies in the unsuitability of John Wayne Airport for the role it now plays: Orange County's only air carrier airport serving nearly 9 million air travelers per year to destinations from New York City to Honolulu.

Right on cue, Huntington Beach resident Rex Ricks responded to my previous letter, re: the similarities between Orange County's battle over the former El Toro base and the ongoing Burbank airport expansion battle, with a perfect example of the distortions and misrepresentations I had described in my letter. Before I get to the specifics of his letter, it's first important to understand Ricks' interest in this issue. Like letter writer Donald Nyre before him, Ricks has been associated with the Newport Beach-based Airport Working Group, which was the driving force behind the push for moving John Wayne Airport's commercial operations to El Toro.

Seniors awarded free tickets at airport AIRPORT DISTRICT -- Three Burbank residents received complimentary roundtrip airfare courtesy of Southwest Airlines during the "Home for the Holidays" ceremony Tuesday at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. Patricia Jones, Jack Meyer and August Westpfall were among those who won tickets. Santa Claus and Southwest Airlines representatives presented 15 seniors from North Hollywood to Pasadena with tickets good for any of the company's scheduled travel destinations to be used between Dec. 1 and March 31. More than 1,000 seniors nationwide received free tickets through the program.