Countywide : Passenger Traffic at Airport Falls 5%

Passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport was down more than 5% for the first four months of this year, according to statistics released yesterday by airport officials, who attributed the decline to cutbacks in service by American Airlines.

American, which is the airport’s largest carrier, reduced its number of flights to San Francisco from eight to 10 a day to two and three a day, airport officials said.

“That’s the main reason for the decrease in our passenger traffic,” said Karen L. Robertson, an official in the airport’s noise abatement office.

According to figures supplied by the airport, the total number of passengers using the facility dropped from 1.41 million during the first four months of last year to 1.34 million during the same period this year.

Although American Airlines officials declined to provide specifics about their reduced passenger loads, they agreed that the airline’s flight reductions could account for most of John Wayne’s drop-off in traffic.