The Hollywood Burbank Airport is getting another cash infusion from the Federal Aviation Administration, which recently announced that it was awarding approximately $8.05 million in additional grant funding to the airport for its ongoing terminal replacement project.
The latest grant may amount to just a fraction of the project’s overall price tag of $1.2 billion, but supporters say it’s still significant and will allow an airport that is important — not just to residents in the San Fernando Valley but to many in the greater Los Angeles area — to continue moving forward with long-overdue improvements.
Rep. Laura Friedman, D-Glendale, who serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and who chaired the Assembly Transportation Committee in the California Legislature before her election to Congress, called the award “a major victory.”
The Hollywood Burbank Airport serves over 6 million travelers a year and is a major employer and economic driver in the Valley, said Friedman, who served on the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority when she was a member of the Glendale City Council years ago.
And because the airport can accommodate large aircrafts, it plays a critical role during emergencies, she added.
“This is an airport that is essential in terms of our ability to bring items into the state if there is a natural disaster. We need to be able to bring food and other supplies into the region quickly,” she said during an interview on Monday, June 30, a week after the FAA announced the new grant award.
Voters in 2016 authorized the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to construct a new, 14-gate terminal to replace the existing terminal at the nearly century-old airport and to bring it into compliance with modern-day FAA standards.
The work includes building a new passenger terminal and locating it further from runways for safety reasons, as well as constructing a new parking garage and airline support facility.
The latest $8.05 million grant from the FAA will pay for construction of the so-called “apron,” the area where aircrafts are parked, items are loaded or unloaded, and planes are serviced and prepared for flights.
About 85% of the $1.2 billion needed for the project overall has been secured, according to Mike Christensen, a public information officer for the airport.
The project relies on various funding sources such as federal grants and airport revenues, including money from airlines that use the airport, concessionaires, hangar tenants and parking fees. No state, county or local city funds, or money from taxpayers, will be used, Christensen said.
The project will also include “connectivity enhancements to the regional transit network,” according to the project website. Christensen said the airport’s transit hub for buses, known as the Regional Intermodal Transportation Center, will remain, and that there will be shuttle service to two nearby train stations. Transit agencies will also have an opportunity to add bus service at the front of the passenger terminal.
The project broke ground in January 2024 and is on track to open in October 2026, Christensen said.
Once the new terminal is operational, the current terminal will be demolished.
According to Friedman, the existing terminal is too close to the runway and no longer meets all of today’s Americans with Disabilities Act and seismic standards.
The changes to the airport will result in a much improved traveling experience and will continue to provide Valley residents with a travel option much closer to home, said the congressmember, noting that it can take two hours to commute between the Valley and Los Angeles International Airport, depending on traffic.
“This is a huge victory for the people of the San Fernando Valley, as well as all of Los Angeles, to have a world-class terminal and a world-class airport right there in the Valley,” she said.