Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer penned a letter Friday to the Federal Aviation Administration demanding that the federal agency revert departing flight paths from Hollywood Burbank Airport to north of the 101 freeway, a boon to south San Fernando Valley residents who have been fighting a southward shift in recent years.
“FAA recently conceded that air traffic controllers are directing pilots departing Burbank Airport to turn south of the tracks that were established and followed by departing planes prior to the Southern California Metroplex project,” Feuer wrote in the letter to Raquel Girvin, administrator of the FAA Western-Pacific regional office.
The change had “never been subject to public notice, comment or environmental review,” it continued, requesting that the FAA issue an order mandating air traffic controllers to direct departing aircraft to follow historically used flight tracks within 30 days to “correct the erroneous ‘southern’ shift’.
In response, FAA Western-Pacific Regional Office spokesperson Ian Gregor said the office would review the letter but disputed its premise, insisting air traffic controllers handle aircraft the same way they did prior to the launch of Metroplex.
“As we have explained previously and in documents posted on our website, the FAA has not changed how we handle Burbank Runway 15 departures in the immediate environment around the airport,” said Gregor in a statement.
The agency “acknowledged that it appears some Runway 15 departure tracks from 2018 have shifted slightly south compared to the tracks from 2016,” suggesting that flight paths can be affected by air traffic volume, air temperature and fleet mix.
For almost two years, south San Fernando Valley residents have alleged that departure routes from Burbank and Van Nuys airports shifted further south than years past, moving past the 101 freeway and closer to the hills of Studio City and Sherman Oaks before turning north to destinations like San Francisco, Portland and Denver. The planes are also lower and louder, they say, spurring months of emotional appeals for relief and grassroots activism pressuring airport leadership and the FAA.
An analysis conducted last year by aviation planning company Landrum & Brown concluded that routes indeed have shifted south, and that the implementation of Mextroplex in March 2017 is, in part, to blame. It also cited increasing average temperatures, which make it harder for planes to quickly gain elevation, and a thriving aviation industry.
The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is sponsoring an ongoing ‘task force’ of elected officials to hear out the cohort of grassroots groups and recommend a solution to the FAA. Two meetings have transpired so far.
In his letter, Feuer called the work of the task force “unrelated” to the FAA’s obligation to use pre-Metropath departure flight paths until potential future changes have been vetted.
