Burbank Airport Impasse

I respectfully disagree with the assertion in your Jan. 3 editorial, “A Wish List for 1999,” that we are no closer now than we were a year ago to resolving the long-standing dispute over the construction of a new terminal at Burbank Airport. On the contrary, I believe that we’ve begun to lay the groundwork for a compromise that all parties can accept.

For the first time, the Federal Aviation Administration is playing an active role in the dispute. FAA Administrator Jane Garvey’s visit to Burbank last August brought a new sense of purpose to the negotiations and helped highlight the fact that the differences between the parties, though difficult, are not insurmountable. Both sides agree that a new terminal should be built and that an enforceable nighttime curfew should be seriously considered.

The challenge is to get from here to there under federal aviation law, which makes it very difficult for airports to impose any noise restrictions. If the parties negotiate in good faith and resist the temptation to wage a war of rhetoric, and if the FAA remains committed to breaking the impasse, I am confident that we can continue to move forward and possibly even resolve the dispute once and for all in 1999.

REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN, D-Mission Hills