New Terminal Makes Debut at John Wayne : Airport: The gleaming Orange County facility opens to travelers and rave reviews--and with a few glitches.

Like a newly made millionaire moving up from a cracker-box rental to an opulent mansion, Orange County on Sunday finally got a gleaming, modern doorway to the sky as John Wayne Airport’s new passenger terminal swung open its doors for the first time.

It may have been months late and millions over budget, but the cavernous terminal was generally greeted by rave reviews from a public happy to see a more spacious and luxurious replacement for the cramped, 23-year-old facility just down the runway.

“This new one is lovely, really lovely,” said Rae Weinstein, who toured the terminal Sunday morning before flying home to Massachusetts with her husband, Irving. “The old one reminded me of when we went to Morocco. There were people milling around everywhere.”

That sort of Third World comparison is not without precedent. For years, John Wayne Airport was something of a civic embarrassment for officials of a county that takes pride in its affluence and sparkling, high-tech image.

The new, $63-million Thomas F. Riley Terminal, which is 12 times the size of the old facility, will be capable of handling up to 160 departures a day within two years, nearly double the number now. Up to 8.4 million passengers are expected to cascade onto jets each year compared to 4.5 million at the old terminal.

Gone are the rickety, portable stairs passengers climbed to their planes at the old John Wayne. In their place at the new terminal are modern, enclosed “jetways.” The single, tiny snack shop, lone bar and restaurant at the old Edward J. (Eddie) Martin Terminal have been traded for a wide assortment of watering holes and eateries offering everything from McDonald’s hamburgers to croissants.

Vast parking garages replaced the old open-air lot surrounded by chain-link fences. Newsstands and gift shops in the new terminal are flanked by glossy marble walls, fashionable lighted sconces and broad aisles, all of it under a dramatic curved ceiling that gives the new terminal the look of a giant Quonset hut.

As with opening night of a big Broadway play, Day 1 at the new terminal had its glitches, as airport workers grappled with a nettlesome string of problems--jammed luggage conveyor belts, balky flight display screens, fickle security alarms on doors leading to the Tarmac and occasional traffic jams at parking lot exits.

But most of the problems were tackled behind the scenes without too much strain, and airport officials declared the terminal’s opening day a success.

“It really works! Believe it or not, it really does!” said Alan Murphy, the airport project director who helped steer the construction job through an endless obstacle course of design problems, work delays and legal tussles with contractors that ultimately put the terminal five months behind schedule and about $17 million over its initial budget.

All that was left behind Sunday. After a soupy, early morning fog burned off, the day was launched with the departure of a Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 bound for Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport. The first passenger aboard--Adele Taymore of Boston, for those who take note of such small milestones in history--was trundled on in a wheelchair during pre-boarding. A full load of tourists, locals and business people followed.

“This is a large improvement,” Ron Kraintz of Laguna Hills said as he got a last look at the new air terminal before boarding the 7:45 a.m. flight to Dallas.

Kraintz admitted, however, that he had experienced a few problems getting to the airport Sunday morning. Blame it on the time of day. Without thinking, he drove straight to the old Eddie Martin Terminal, which closed down Saturday night and is to be turned over to general aviation pilots. Kraintz said he realized his mistake “more or less immediately” and zipped up the street to the new terminal with no problem.

Alisa Brookshire flew into the old terminal last week on business from her Washington home. But when she arrived in her rental car Sunday morning to find the sparkling new terminal with its row of palm trees towering above her, Brookshire thought something was amiss.

“I thought I was at the wrong airport this morning,” Brookshire said. “The signs pointed me to the right one, but I still wasn’t convinced. I had to ask people at the rental-car place, ‘Am I at the right airport?’ ” They assured her she was.

Brookshire was pleased with what she saw inside, but quickly discovered a problem: Cigarette smoking is off-limits everywhere except in the airport’s bars.

“It’s a beautiful airport, but it stinks because there’s no designated smoking area. So I end up in a bar at 8 a.m.,” she said, taking a drag on her cigarette.

The next table over, Robert Wolfe also fumed about the strict no-smoking policy. But he had to admit he preferred the new Orange County terminal to the old, which he compared rather unfavorably to “a fruit stand” back home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Joe Donahue, meanwhile, sat with his 2-year-old daughter, waiting for a flight home to San Luis Obispo and talked glumly about the new terminal.

“All we have is another Orange County Taj Mahal,” said Donahue, an attorney who maintains a second practice in the Southland. “It’s pretty inside, but I really question whether it will be functional.”

Indeed, a few trouble spots were exposed Sunday. And officials expected to get their first really big test today, when business people hit the jetways for a multitude of flights.

Perhaps the most vexing problem to surface involved several of the television screens displaying information on arriving flights. The system is not programmed to display gate numbers, so many people picking up passengers were left scrambling to find the proper arrival gate.

Airport officials explained that the TV screens did not have room to display both the arrival time and baggage carousel numbers. That didn’t mollify Wendy Grumman of Dana Point.

“I have to meet my aunt or she’ll be terribly lost,” Grumman said. After doing some sleuthing, however, Grumman figured out where the incoming flight would be.

The baggage-handling conveyor belts also gave airport workers fits, clogging up several times. Once, it resulted in a half-dozen bags missing a flight to San Francisco. Airport officials said the bags were ultimately retrieved and placed aboard another flight to the city.

Newfangled machines that are supposed to allow motorists to pay their parking ticket in advance at the terminal also were on the fritz. Christine Edwards, operations chief at the airport, said the machines were issuing change for $20 bills by handing back a $10 bill and scores of quarters.

“It was like a Las Vegas slot machine,” she said, noting that officials decided to turn them off until repairs can be made in the coming days.

As a result, lines in the parking garages occasionally grew long. The problem was compounded further because the south parking structure was shut down early in the day. The lower level filled up with cars during the morning and the upper level was closed because workers had to finish re-striping new lanes.

Most passengers, however, didn’t seem to mind that parking was relegated mostly to the northern lot, where spaces were plentiful throughout the day.

Others simply avoided the new parking structures altogether and used the existing long-term parking lots across the San Diego Freeway from the airport. Many people prefer the remote lots because the rates are cheaper than at the new garages, which were built at a cost of $86.3 million. Airport officials had planned to close the remote lots, but a public outcry persuaded authorities to keep them open for at least another 90 days.

“It’s the same as a normal Sunday,” said Armando Marin, a worker at the remote lots. “The new garages haven’t taken any business away from this at all.”

Some passengers complained that they couldn’t find their way around the airport once they got inside, saying they could use a pedestal-mounted locater map bearing the welcome words “You Are Here.” Airport workers were distributing brochures with maps, but some people were missed.

“For a newcomer it’s a bummer,” said Kathy Weatherby of Buena Park. “If you don’t have a map right in front of you, it’s easy to get lost.”

Fast-food restaurants dotting the terminal concourse were whipping out burgers at a break-neck pace. But some eateries were experiencing start-up troubles. The main restaurant in the airport’s central plaza advertised a “Fast Breakfast” delivered to your table in five minutes, but the eggs and hash browns were taking 10 minutes to arrive.

At the Pavilion Pub, bartender Jonathan Vitt had sold his first cocktail by 7 a.m.

“It was a Bloody Mary, naturally,” Vitt said. “He was a guy from Dallas. He was out all night he said. Got to bed at 4 a.m. and had to wake up at 6 a.m. to get here. Rough.”

On the other side of the airport, skycap Lewis Wells leaned on his baggage dolly and good-naturedly bemoaned the death of the old terminal. Nearby, tourists milled about the newly bronzed statue of John Wayne.

“I miss the old terminal myself right about now,” said Wells, of Huntington Beach. “Far as walking is concerned, things were a lot closer at the old one. And I liked it when it was a zoo. But things are more pleasant at this one.”

David Hunter also longed for the close confines of the old terminal. He was late for his flight Sunday morning, so Hunter had to sprint a fair distance to reach the proper gate.

“At least at the old terminal you didn’t have to run to a flight like this if you were a few minutes late,” Hunter puffed as he jogged.

But for every grumble Sunday, there seemed to be dozens of smiles and murmured compliments.

“This place really changed,” Flint Palmer of Diamond Bar said as he watched his wife’s plane take off. “This is really nice. The parking is a lot better.”

Chris Meagher, a salesman from New Jersey, agreed.

“I like it a lot,” Meagher said. “It’s large and well equipped. . . . It’s nice to step into the 20th Century.”

Times staff writer Kristina Lindgren contributed to this story.

GETTING TO AND FROM JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT

To Airport:

* From southbound Costa Mesa Freeway, take new airport ramp directly to parking garages.

* From northbound Costa Mesa Freeway/Newport Blvd., switch to southbound San Diego Freeway, exit at MacArthur Blvd.

* From north- and southbound San Diego Freeway, exit at MacArthur Blvd. From MacArthur Blvd., enter airport loop one block south of freeway or further south at Michelson Drive.

* From north- and southbound Corona Del Mar Freeway, exit at Campus Drive and enter airport loop one block west of MacArthur Blvd.

From airport:

* To northbound Costa Mesa Freeway, take new airport ramp that crosses over San Diego Freeway, then turns parallel.

* To southbound Costa Mesa Freeway/Newport Blvd., take MacArthur Blvd. to northbound San Diego Freeway, transition to southbound Costa Mesa Freeway.

* To north and southbound San Diego Freeway, exit airport loop road onto northbound MacArthur Blvd., go to freeway ramps from right lane.

* To Corona Del Mar Freeway, take airport loop road until it reaches a Campus Drive/MacArthur Blvd. split south of parking garages. Turn right on Campus and follow signs to freeway.

Source: Orange County