LOCAL : New Orange County Airport Operations Off to Flying Start

The new John Wayne Airport was functioning nearly flawlessly this morning as the first horde of business travelers swarmed in and out of the long, sleek terminal with a minimum of fuss.

“Things are going amazingly well, considering,” said Continental Airlines ticket agent Pam McPhall, who was setting up a new lost-and-found office for the airline. “I’m surprised.”

Airport officials faced a few minor glitches on the second day of operations--one balky baggage ramp and a few magnetized security badges that failed to open doors--but the most serious problems seemed to have been licked.

Computerized boards that were not displaying the gate number of arriving flights on Sunday were flashing the information by 8 a.m. today. Planes were departing on time. By 9:30 a.m., only one arriving passenger reported missing luggage.

Although several travelers said they had left home earlier than usual, prepared for chaos at the new airport, traffic was sparse and parking spaces were abundant.

“There’s elbow room!” reported John Akins of Laguna Niguel, one of about 20,000 passengers expected to use the airport today. “It’s delightful, absolutely delightful.”