Old Hollywood Incarnate - Bob Hope Airport (BUR)



Burbank Airport circa 1960

Today is my eighth visit in 2010 to Southern California using the charming Bob Hope Airport (BUR) as my entry point. Tucked up against the hills, the Burbank airport is serviced most predominantly by Southwest Airlines on the commercial side, but is as busy on the general aviation side, given how closely the various film and television studios are located (Universal Studios is only six miles away).  It's the airport closest to Hollywood, and has not appeared to have changed at all since it was built in 1928. Owned for most of its 20th century existance by Lockheed, and running with the glamorous Hollywood-Burbank Airport for many of those years, it boasted to be the largest air terminal in Los Angeles when Lockheed bought it in 1934.

Operated as an airport authority run jointly by the cities of Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale since 1978, the small airport continues to only use airstairs to unload passengers from the commercial aircraft (mostly 737s).  

I love this little airport. Everything about it is in such opposition to the sprawling cities that grew up around it. When I sit in first class, I can get  to the airport drive to catch my transportation in under 90 seconds once the aircraft door is opened! There is one conveyor belt for luggage serving the smaller of two terminals (not sure about the larger Terminal A...it seems more modern from the outside). The flight information isn't digitally displayed - the destinations and flight numbers are 'slotted' into position, much like gas station signs of old required daily manual changing of prices.



Bob Hope Airport Today

 This airport has some sad history. In 2000, a Southwest Airlines 737 overshot the runway, blew through the perimeter fence, and came to rest on Hollywood Way, claiming a single victim - a young boy in the backseat of a passing automobile was killed when the plane collided with the vehicle his father was driving.

BUR remains my favorite small airport. Even as the world has exploded around it, and the sprawl of Los Angeles eventually made the larger LAX the primary gateway to the Southland, Bob Hope Airport still retains its charm, and in the traffic congested LA, allows a quick exit from the airport upon arrival.