A hybrid burnishing head for processing of surfaces of hard disk media comprises a solid body including a first major surface and a second, opposed major surface comprising a burnishing surface including first and second surface portions, wherein the first surface portion is configured for providing air bearing stability and flyability of the head over the media surface, the second surface portion is configured for providing burnishing of a media surface, and the first and second surface portions are operatively decoupled for simultaneously providing optimized air bearing stability/flyability and burnishing aggressiveness for a particular application.