AIRPORT FIGHTS TO EXPAND TERMINAL; SIZE OF BURBANK SITE CAUSES FRICTION.

Byline: Eric Wahlgren Daily News Staff Writer

The limitations of Burbank Airport's aging terminal are rarely more apparent than on Friday evenings, when legions of business travelers head home just as mobs of vacationers are getting on planes to get out of town for the weekend.

On a recent Friday at about 5:30 p.m., motorists spent 15 minutes inching to the top of the airport's four-level, short-term parking structure, only to discover every space was taken.

Inside the airport's freight-train-long east wing, dozens of passengers sat on the gray carpet with their backs against the wall because there were no seats left in the holding areas.

``This is crowded. I wasn't able to find a seat anywhere,'' said Robert Hastings, an electrical engineer from San Francisco who was flipping through a book on the floor while waiting for his Southwest Airlines flight to Oakland.

Passengers have been waiting for years to get a little elbow room while the city of Burbank battles the airport's proposal to replace its terminal with a larger, safer version.

The two sides have spent more than $4.5 million on attorneys and public relations firms. They contest every item, no matter how trivial: They are now fighting over the content of airport programs on the city's public-access cable television channel.

Jane Garvey, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, has promised to send a federal mediator to negotiate a settlement.

But passengers will likely wait for years before they see any relief. At least seven court cases - including one filed Friday - are pending.

Built in 1930 and remodeled over the years to handle 1.5 million passengers a year, the airport last year handled 4.7 million travelers, reflecting a surge in travel attracted by the low-fare carriers landing here.

The airport projects that the terminal will become busier still with 10 million travelers forecast for the year 2010 - although officials say that actual passenger traffic is lagging behind their projections.

That planned growth - along with FAA safety concerns - is fueling the airport's drive to build a new, larger terminal - even though it is being designed to accommodate only a modest increase from the current number of passengers. Airport officials say the proposed facility would at least give passengers more breathing room during crunch times.

For all the crowding on Friday evenings, the terminal can be relatively hassle-free on other days.

``This is a breeze compared to LAX,'' said Darryl Lytle, a sales manager, who was boarding a midweek flight to Phoenix. ``That's why I fly here. I would have to count on an extra hour or hour and a half just to fly out of LAX.''

But there are still too many people in too small a space too often, airport officials say.

``We just have very, very busy peak flows,'' said Victor Gill, a spokesman for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which manages the facility.

``It's not going to get any better,'' he said.

The airport's biggest growth spurt came in 1990 when low-fare giant Southwest started flying out of Burbank. The number of passengers jumped by 30 percent from 1989 to 1990 - from 2.7 million to 3.5 million.

In the early 1990s, the number of travelers using the terminal climbed steadily, peaking at about 5 million in 1995 before leveling off at the current 4.7 million.

``Everybody shares the same complaint, and that is the lack of space,'' said Mark Hardyment, manager of airport operations.

There is no separate departure and arrival level for cars dropping off and picking up passengers, leading to impossible bottlenecks when the airport is crowded. With scant restroom facilities, there are often lines.

And the airport's main baggage claim area has only two carousels, creating a scene reminiscent of a rock concert, with throngs of travelers trying to claw their way to the front when more than one flight arrives at the same time.

``It does make for a hectic end to a passenger's trip,'' Hardyment said.

The space squeeze is one of the main reasons airport officials want to build a new, 19-gate terminal about 2,000 feet north of the existing 14-gate facility.

Safety at issue

Also driving the estimated $250 million project is concern by the Federal Aviation Administration that the present, boomerang-shaped terminal is too close to the runway.

The center of Burbank's east-west runway is only 313 feet from the edge of the terminal building, while federal guidelines call for a minimum safety buffer zone of at least 750 feet.

Since 1995, Burbank city officials have tried to block the expansion, saying the airport has no plan to protect residents from increasing noise, traffic and pollution.

Despite the bitter dispute, even the city admits the current, 170,000-square-foot terminal has to go.

``We don't really contest that this terminal is too small and that a new terminal is needed,'' said Peter Kirsch, special counsel to Burbank on airport matters.

``But there is a big difference between a replacement terminal and a larger terminal,'' Kirsch said. ``If there is going to be growth at the airport, the airport has to do something about the noise problem.''

Airport officials have conceded that the noise will increase slightly as more people use the new airport, as projected.

The new terminal would be constructed in a U-shape over 454,000 square feet, making it 267 percent as large as the current facility.

Parking would increase by 1,700 spaces to 6,700 spots. Although the type of baggage claim system to be installed hasn't been worked out, the space planned for luggage retrieval would triple to 60,000 square feet.

And to board a plane, there would be no more schlepping outside across the pavement and up mobile stairways amid the whine of jet engines and the nostril-tingling smell of fuel.

Those loading bridges to planes that are standard equipment at all the major airports would be a feature at Burbank's new terminal.

Passengers to double

Despite more amenities, the new airport is planned to accommodate only 5.4 million passengers a year, even though airport officials are predicting nearly twice that number in little more than a decade.

Gill blames Burbank's political climate for preventing the airport from designing a bigger terminal.

``The new terminal will indeed solve the current problems we have at the so-called peak hours because it will be designed for those loads,'' Gill said.

``Over the longer run, it is very possible that we will be facing some of the same old problems all over again because we are unable to build the political consensus to take on a bigger project.''

The airlines that fly into Burbank would shoulder the main cost of building the new terminal with the federal government paying for the purchase of needed land, Gill said.

Travelers surveyed informally at the airport were split over the proposed new facility. Some support the project for convenience and safety reasons and others oppose it because of possible impacts on surrounding areas.

Despite these mixed views, nearly all passengers repeated like a mantra a common reservation about the construction of a new terminal: They don't want small-fry Burbank Airport to turn into another LAX.

``I would hate for this airport to grow up,'' said Rajan Srikanth, a management consultant from Oakland who often flies to Burbank Airport for business trips. ``If they do expand, I hope it retains some of this small-airport feel.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO (1) Travelers stream out of Burbank Airport on a recent Friday. The site now handles over three times its annual passenger capacity.

(2) Auto traffic backs up while entering Burbank Airport on a recent Friday afternoon.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News