O.C. Airport’s Kids Zone in Holding Pattern

Walk through any airport, and chances are you’ll see parents screaming at their children, tearful kids, or mischievous youngsters dodging the crush of business travelers.

A group of retired and working American Airlines flight attendants think they have the perfect solution for calming young nerves: A children’s waiting area open to the public at the new John Wayne Airport passenger terminal. The group, known as the Kiwis, has offered to outfit the facility with play equipment, TV sets and changing tables if the county provides the space in the new $61-million terminal, which is scheduled to open in September.

But Jackie Schmitt, a member of the group, said county officials have turned down the offer, preferring instead to wait a year and then survey travelers about whether they want a children’s facility.

“I’m frustrated,” said Schmitt, a retired flight attendant who lives in San Juan Capistrano. “I’ve never dealt with the government before. I’m just a regular citizen. . . . We’re just one of those thousand points of light.”

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley confirmed on Tuesday that he had met two or three times with Schmitt and airport staff in recent months to discuss the proposal for a children’s facility and was “very impressed.”

“But I was persuaded by staff that rather than commit space to any of the people who are making demands on us, we should wait and see what our needs are a year from now,” said Riley, after whom the terminal will be named. “It’s not a dead project by any means. It just requires an evaluation of the needs of the passengers.”

The proposal was never formally considered by the board. Schmitt said she talked with several of the supervisors about the play area in recent months, but it was left to Riley to present the idea to the full board because the airport is in his district.

Schmitt said she spent months researching the plan, answering concerns and questions of the various supervisors only to be told that now is not the time.

“If you know anything about the demographics of Orange County, with its large numbers of families and increasing air travel demand, how could anyone not see the need for this?” Schmitt asked.

“As flight attendants, we see mothers screaming at their kids all of the time,” she added. “You see a lot of grumpy businessmen who wish the kids weren’t there. But kids are just kids. A children’s play area would alleviate the situation. As it is now, you see a lot of sad faces.”

The Kiwis offered to provide the county with a “turnkey” facility including a three-tiered amphitheater equipped with several TVs, surrounded by big action figures and stuffed animal toys, a mother’s nursing area with cribs and vending machines to dispense diapers, baby formula and kids’ snacks, Schmitt said. It would cost an estimated $60,000 to $100,000 to complete the project, she said. An architect has already drawn blueprints for the room free of charge, and the group has commitments for free toys, paint and other materials, she said.

Orange County, Schmitt argued, has a chance to be a leader in the field of airport design if it would include a children’s facility.

The first such facility, called Kids Port, opened at the Pittsburgh airport in 1983, followed by a similar facility at Boston’s Logan Airport three years ago.

Some airlines, such as American, let children watch television in a special room for $25 added to the cost of their airline ticket at major airports such as Los Angeles International. But no airline has a designated play area, an industry spokesmen said.

Nobody keeps statistics on the number of children who travel through John Wayne Airport or on commercial airlines nationally. But industry experts estimated that at least 500,000 children fly annually unaccompanied by an adult, and the numbers who fly with relatives is believed to be much higher.

In Pittsburgh, the two-tiered Kids Port was the brainchild of a former chief of the Allegheny County Department of Aviation. In a 1,600-square-foot area, the airport authority installed children’s bathrooms, a changing and nursing area, and a play area equipped with 200 children’s books, a clubhouse, picnic tables, wagons, a rocket ride, sliding board, teeter-totter, play kitchen, play store, and a large picture window so the youngsters can watch the planes land and take off.

“In all the years I’ve worked at this airport, Kids Port has received more compliments than anything. We’re quite proud of it,” said Maryanna Gerardi, the airport’s public information officer.

Schmitt and other members of the Kiwis decided that John Wayne Airport needed a similar facility. More than a year ago, the group started seeking commitments of free labor, toys and other materials, and began sitting down with airport officials to plan a children’s play area.

Airport officials, Schmitt said, challenged her to find space somewhere in the complicated plans for the airport’s new, $61-million passenger terminal, which is still under construction.

They identified a spot next to one of the new restaurants and reduced their request from 3,300 to 1,575 square feet. But airport officials said plans called for that space to eventually become revenue-producing, through rents charged to a vendor. Riley acknowledged Tuesday that the space is being sought by entrepreneurs who hope to sell everything from flowers to T-shirts.

Schmitt said the project was on course until last Feb. 24, when the 50-member Newport-Long Beach chapter of the Kiwis was told that its members would have to wait at least a year.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” Schmitt said. “The last thing this county needs is another T-shirt stand.”