BURBANK AIRPORT WILL LOSE GUARD COVERAGE.

Byline: Susan Abram  Staff Writer

BURBANK - Members of the National Guard will be providing security at Burbank Airport until next Monday, although they pulled out Tuesday from Los Angeles International and Ontario airports, officials said.

More than two dozen armed National Guardsmen were deployed to Burbank and other airports to provide additional security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The troops are being phased out of airports nationwide by May 31.

``They came on in a crunch time after Sept. 11, as we were getting on the right track, and have made the whole experience of the traveler feel comfortable,'' Burbank Airport spokesman Victor Gill said.

The Burbank Airport Police force hopes to beef up its own ranks by hiring off-duty officers from other agencies, Gill said. The airport hopes eventually to have 34 officers, compared with 19 on staff before Sept. 11.

Like other airports nationwide, Burbank Airport saw a sharp drop-off in passenger traffic in the weeks after Sept. 11. Preliminary figures show that traffic has returned to within 5.5 percent of last year's levels.

Gill said 1.04 million passengers traveled through Burbank during the first three months of this year, compared with 1.1 million during the same period in 2001.