Bob Hope Airport, to me, represents one of the cool things about living in Burbank. There is a nostalgic feel to the airport, not just in some of the historical and architectural elements but the fact that it's one of the few airports where you board the plane from the tarmac. Maybe it's the kid in me, but I love that!
The airport was opened on Memorial Day weekend in 1930, so I thought it would be appropriate to write a bit about it's history. Built by United Airports Company of California (hence it's original name of United Airport), it became the primary airport for the Los Angeles region. The airport was frequented by famous aviators such as Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergha and early aviation heroes connected to Lockheed Aviation.
In 1940 Lockheed purchased the airport, expanded it's operations for World War II and changed the airport's name to Lockheed Air Terminal. While it continued to operate as a commercial airport, thousands of B-17s, Hudson bombers, and P-38 fighters rolled off the Lockheed assembly lines and onto the runways to join the war effort.
After WWII, LAX took over as the region's primary airport. In the 1960's the airport went through a transition and airline service returned to Burbank, when jet airliners capable of using Burbank's short runways came into being. The airport's name was again changed to Hollywood-Burbank Airport, and the airport quickly became a hub for quick flights along the West Coast.
1978 marked the year that Lockheed sold the airport to an airport authority created by Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, who soon renamed it the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport.
In December, 2003 the airport, was again, renamed in honor of the legendary Bob Hope. The airport serves 5 million passengers a year, and it is certainly not without it's controversies.
For many years the Airport Authority and local residents have been trying to get the FAA to impose a mandatory 10pm-7am curfew as opposed to the voluntary one that is now in place. To it's credit the Authority has been aggressive in it's efforts to curb noise by mandating quieter Stage 3 jets in 1987, long before the national noise policy guidelines, imposing the voluntary curfew(followed by more than 95% of airline flights) and aggressively lobbying for federal funds to insulate schools and homes located inside of the noise impact area.
For those who are interested in more information, the airport does issue a quarterly report with the results of their noise monitoring and flight contour map. This is an important report, especially if you are thinking about buying a home that is in the flight path. Many of the homes have received the updated insulation and windows and it makes a huge difference!
The full history, amazing early pictures and much more information is available on the Bob Hope Airport website.
