Many Hail Smoking Ban--and Some Fume : Passengers: There were those who found a lengthy air trip without cigarettes difficult. Many others were ecstatic over the new law.

Moments after their plane from Dallas touched down at John Wayne Airport on Sunday, Gary Clausen and three of his colleagues puffed their first cigarettes in more than three hours.

All four, here for a GTE convention, were calm but somewhat relieved that the flight was over. It was the first day of a ban on smoking on virtually all flights in the United States. For Clausen, making it through the trip was tough, but he did it.

“I’m still alive,” he said, waiting for a cab just outside the terminal. “In a way it was kind of like going to a movie.”

His response was typical of smokers all over the country facing the prospect of long flights without the benefit of nicotine.

The law that went into effect Sunday bans smoking on all flights within the continental United States and all domestic flights of six hours or less. The law, passed by Congress last year, replaces a 1988 prohibition against smoking on flights of two hours or less. Almost all of the 18,000 domestic flights airlines make each day are affected, with the only exceptions being some flights to Hawaii or Alaska.

Airline officials in most major cities reported almost no complaints about the new regulations Sunday. “Most people are just ecstatic when you tell them there’s no smoking,” said Miriam Howell, a Delta Air Lines agent in New York.

Even some smokers weren’t displeased.

Sarah Gurtis, 38, had one last cigarette before she boarded a plane at John Wayne for her home in Orlando, Fla. That was enough for her.

“(Smoking) is just too hard on an airplane,” she said. “It’s just too uncomfortable for the other passengers.

“In confined spaces, there’s no space for it. Even for smokers it’s uncomfortable.”

Many nonsmokers at the airport agreed with Gurtis.

“If they ban smoking, I love it,” said Beatrice Plass, 68, adding that smoke makes her eyes water and causes allergic reactions.

“We were once on a flight and the smoking section was two rows away,” she said. “I was just miserable. I couldn’t wait to get off.”

Her husband, Albert Plass, 74, said that he supported the ban because of the danger to other people’s health. But, he said, “everybody has a right. If they want to smoke, give them a plane. You’re taking away one pleasure and giving it to another.”

Jim McClain, 28, of Omaha said he had no sympathy for smokers.

“I’m all for it,” he said. “Let them suffer. If they go through withdrawals, let them suffer. They can just chew tobacco.”

As he had one last cigarette before heading to Salt Lake City, Ron Hangel, 33, said he understood the complaints of nonsmokers and wasn’t bothered by the ban.

“I could see where it would be infringing on someone’s rights,” he said. “If you had a vehicle where you could open a window, it would be a different story.”

But some smokers said the new ban is going too far, especially for the price of their tickets.

“For me, it’s a terrible inconvenience,” said Mary Kay Feeney, 46, waiting to board a flight to Chicago. “The smoking environment is not the fault of the smoker. It’s poor ventilation. They should get new filters. My rights are just as good as anyone else’s rights.”

But James J. Johnson, 60, who was flying to West Palm Beach, Fla., said that he doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.

“I’ve never been on an airplane that looked or smelt the slightest bit smoky,” he said. Although he predicted that he would have no trouble making it through the flight, he called the ban “unnecessary and extreme.”

One passenger, just in from a ski trip from Mammoth, was still upset at the two-hour ban.

“I hate it,” said Daniel Reymer, 26, of Newport Beach. “I think it’s very inconsiderate. Everyone has their idiosyncrasies.

”. . . Now you can’t go anywhere without a smoking ban. That’s like saying you can’t go to the bathroom.”

For many smokers, the worst part of their flights was just after lunch, when they get the urge for an after-meal smoke. Clausen thought that the airline would give him candy after his meal in place of a cigarette, but he didn’t get any.

“You kind of sit there,” Clausen said. “We didn’t know what to do . . . . I didn’t drink. I knew I’d want a cigarette.”

Many travelers coming and going at the airport knew of the ban, but it was a surprise for Clausen.

“It’s terrible,” Clausen said. “We chose smoking, which is way in the back of the plane. That didn’t bother me. Then they announced the ban. If I had known that I would have changed my seat.

“And our food was cold. The people in the front of the plane got warm food.”