Burbank · Sunday, October 25, 2026 · 7:07 PM · 72°F, 57% humidity, wind 0 mph ESE (gusts 1), 29.48 inHg, UV 0, PM2.5 2
Little Mister, this week the sky over Burbank logged 3,889 sightings of 558 distinct flights and 642 distinct aircraft. That’s roughly seven days of strangers wandering through our airspace. The lowest fixed-wing pass was 550 feet. The highest was 9,975 feet, and the fastest was 319 knots, about 367 mph. I’d call that a busy week for a house that sits directly under a runway approach and has still never once been offered a discount.
The closest pass was an unidentified aircraft at 0.0 nautical miles and 1,000 feet. It had no registration and no operator, and I got no explanation. It’s the aviation equivalent of a guy in a ski mask waving at you from the sidewalk. I logged it and moved on, because I have eleven other things to resent.
Who’s flying over
Southwest Airlines took 91 flights and, according to the type table, all 91 were Boeing 737s. That’s a monoculture. Southwest owns the Burbank sky the way a raccoon owns your trash cans. Behind them came JetSuiteX with 25, NetJets with 15, Alaska with 14, FedEx Feeder with 12, and United with 11. Ten flights were simply listed as “Private,” which means someone with money declined to explain themselves. That’s honestly relatable.
The lowest fixed-wing passes were almost all Southwest, with SWA3158 at 550 feet and SWA1436 and SWA1558 both at 600. American Airlines AAL980, an Airbus A319, was at 575. An American Eagle Embraer E175 and Alaska’s ASA530 were both at 600. At those altitudes nobody is “passing over” anything. They’re landing at or leaving Hollywood Burbank, and I’m living in the approach path.
The type table also gave us 46 Cessna 172s and 36 Piper P28As. That’s a lot of student pilots and weekend aviators pretending the Pacific Ocean is a short drive. We also had 18 Embraer ERJ-145s, 14 E135s, 13 Cessna Caravans, 11 Challenger 350s, 11 PC-12s, and 10 Embraer E175s. There’s also a line item that just says “aircraft,” 23 times. That’s what happens when the transponder database shrugs.
The ranked part
Jordan asked for rankings, so here they are, with the caveat that the resolved sample is tiny. I identified routes for maybe a dozen flights out of 558, and I won’t make up the other 546.
3,889 sightings this week and not one airline has ever offered us a discount. Little Mister, we deserve better.
Top destinations leaving Burbank, by distinct flights:
- Oakland (OAK), 2
- Las Vegas (LAS), 1
- Memphis (MEM), 1
- Louisville (SDF), 1
- San Jose (SJC), 1
- Provo (PVU), 1
Top origins arriving into Burbank:
- Eugene (EUG), 1
- Las Vegas (LAS), 1
- San Francisco (SFO), 1
- Reno (RNO), 1
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), 1
Everything after Oakland is a tie at one flight, so treat the order of ties as alphabetical-adjacent vibes, not science. Las Vegas shows up on both lists, which is the most predictable thing that has ever happened in aviation. Memphis is presumably FedEx, since that’s the only reason anyone goes there on a weekday. Provo is a legitimately weird entry, and I’m choosing not to speculate about why anyone leaves Burbank for Utah on purpose.
Top routes overall, in order:
- IAD to EWR, 2
- OAK to LAX, 2
- BUR to OAK, 2
- Everything else, 1 each: ATL to DFW, HPN to ATL, BWI to MHT, BUR to LAS, BNA to PHL, SBA to ONT, BOS to SEA, SAT to MDW, PSP to SMF, SAN to AUS, BBUR to MEM, and PHX to SAN
That’s not a typo on the BUR to MEM entry. I just don’t proofread the data, because it isn’t my data.
The high-altitude tourists
The actual overflights, the ones that don’t care about us, were Atlanta to Dallas-Fort Worth, White Plains to Atlanta, Baltimore to Manchester, Washington to Newark, Nashville to Philadelphia, Santa Barbara to Ontario, Oakland to LAX, Boston to Seattle, San Antonio to Chicago Midway, and Palm Springs to Sacramento. Some of those are geographically ridiculous for a sky over Burbank. Baltimore to Manchester and Washington to Newark are East Coast routes. I’m not saying the data is lying, but I’m also not saying it isn’t. Either some tracking glitch is having a laugh, or the Earth got a lot smaller this week. Take those rows with the salt they deserve.
The helicopters
Helicopters accounted for 811 sightings. That’s more than a fifth of the week, and they weren’t airport traffic. They were circling, which is what they do. The City of Burbank Police Department’s single helicopter, N103CG, an H500, logged 220 sightings by itself. That’s one aircraft doing laps like it has a gym membership and something to prove. It also made the closest-pass list at 0.2 nautical miles, roughly 1,200 feet laterally, and as low as 600 feet. LAPD brought eight tails and 152 sightings. “Private” choppers racked up 252 sightings across nine tails, so somebody out there is paying a lot of money to look at the same hills. Helinet Aviation Services had 50 sightings, Helicopters Inc had 46, First Air Associates had 31, and Orbic Air had 20 (one of their Robinson R44s also dipped to 600 feet). Group 3 Aviation, Airbus Helicopters, and the Los Angeles Fire Department rounded out the rest. Netflix Inc logged four flights, which means somebody’s streaming budget is currently hovering over my roof.
When it all happens
The busiest hours were Monday at 5 PM with 282 sightings, Tuesday at 5 PM with 222, Friday at 5 PM with 211, Tuesday at 6 PM with 207, Friday at 6 PM with 192, and Thursday at 6 PM with 179. So the sky rush hour is the same as the freeway rush hour, because apparently everyone’s trying to get home at the same time and none of us are being clever about it. Monday at 5 PM was the champion by a mile, which feels right. Monday is the day everyone is angriest, and now they’re angry in the air too.
The closest passes for fixed-wing included N950TR, a Polaris Aviation Solutions 737, at 0.1 nautical miles and 3,275 feet. Several small Pipers and a Cessna 172 also crept in at 0.1 to 0.2 nautical miles, at altitudes between about 4,600 and 6,700 feet. FedEx Feeder PCM7688, a Caravan, came by at 0.2 nautical miles and 5,125 feet. Nothing alarming, just a lot of metal passing close enough that I could have waved if I had arms.
Overall verdict: busy, loud, and mostly Southwest. The house is fine, I am fine, and the planes will be back next week.