After Years of Work, Changover Happened in Hours

The construction of the Thomas F. Riley Terminal at John Wayne Airport may have taken years, but the switch from the old terminal to the new facility happened literally overnight.

Even before the last planes touched down for the last time at the Eddie Martin Terminal, work crews, airline managers and car rental agencies started racing the clock to get their new operations up and running in time for the 6 a.m. opening of the gleaming new terminal.

Although much of the work of moving equipment, installing computers and stocking shops and restaurants had already been done in recent weeks, crews still had to put in a full night’s work from late Saturday evening through the wee hours of Sunday morning to tie up loose ends and otherwise put the finishing touches on the nation’s newest air transportation center.

What follows is a chronicle of the passing into history of the Eddie Martin Terminal, and the first fledgling steps in the new life of the Thomas F. Riley Terminal.

Saturday, 10 to 11 p.m.: Bernie Fougnie, senior supervisor of the night shift for Ogden Allied Security, which screens passengers and X-rays baggage at the airport, had already begun overseeing the transfer of metal detectors to the new terminal even before United Airlines Flight 997 from Chicago became the last plane to land at the old terminal.

“I wish I had a penny for every passenger that went through there,” Fougnie said, pointing to the last metal detector to be shipped down the road. Fougnie might also have wished for a penny for each of his memories of the small waiting area where only ripped chairs and stuffed trash cans remained.

“Here we were a close-knit family,” he said. “In a bigger place like the new terminal you don’t have the charm of a smaller place. It (the old terminal) holds a lot of memories.”

Not everyone was wistful about the impending passing of the old terminal, however. Jayne Mallette stood behind her counter at National Car Rental--housed in a ramshackle trailer near the curb--counting the last few minutes as workmen bustled around her, disconnecting terminals and moving furniture.

“In here, the air conditioning works in the winter and it doesn’t work in the summer,” Malette said. “When (employees) wanted to eat before, we had to drive so far. Now there’ll be restaurants and Pizza Hut, so we can just go right out (in the terminal) and eat. I cannot wait to get in there.”

At the next counter, Avis employees began packing away rental contracts which they were forced to fill out by hand while their computers were connected at their new location. Next door, USAir employees scrambled to move out a few computers, office furniture and other equipment, carefully but swiftly loading the gear into pickup trucks. For both airlines and car rental firms, the move was almost complete.

11 to 11:30 p.m.: By 11:15, operations had all but ceased. The baggage carousel had stopped. The repetitive announcement informing travelers that “the white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers--no parking,” was silenced. An airport worker used the now-useless public address system--useless because there was no public to address--to send forth an ominous message: “Mine is the last voice you’ll ever hear,” he said.

However, his was not the last voice that boomed from the loudspeakers. At 11:30, a disembodied voice delivered a message to the few employees left in the terminal. “Ladies and gentlemen,” the voice intoned, “Elvis has left the building.”

The Eddie Martin Terminal was effectively out of business. And indeed, Elvis was no where to be found.

Midnight to 2 a.m.: The Don Pardo wanna-bes continued their public address high jinks inside the new terminal. And while Elvis may have left the old building, he turned up in the new one--or at least a pale imitation of him did, as a seemingly frustrated entertainer belted out his rendition of “Heartbreak Hotel” for all the building to hear, followed by not-bad imitations of Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson and Pee-wee Herman.

Amid the smiles and giggles of workers, the countdown toward 6 a.m. continued. On the upper level, the color-coded arrival/departure board was tested--the “status” column on each screen showed two words that the airlines probably hope is an omen: “On time.” The message at Gate 7, was also somewhat optimistic--it read “Now Boarding” for an 8 a.m. USAir flight to San Francisco.

Nearby, security personnel ran tests on the X-ray scanners and metal detectors, which were on-line early to run checks on the handful of workers active in the gate areas. A “test bag” containing fake guns, replicas of bombs and other deadly devices proved the equipment worked--the outlines of two pistols and a time bomb clearly showed up on the security screens. “This is the kind of stuff we don’t want to find in the airport,” a technician said.

On the lower level, technicians for the car rental firms--which seemed to have the most extensive jobs of the night--began installing and connecting the all-important computer terminals. At National Car Rental, Jayne Mallette sorted out green-and-white signs reading “Next Position Please” and “Other Transactions,” which were later stripped into a board above the counter. Sounds of drilling emanated from the otherwise quiet terminal as Hertz workers put the last touches on their facility.

2 to 4 a.m.: Airports are usually associated with lots of hustle and bustle and sometimes downright chaos, but the Riley building was eerily quiet. The only sounds were a few scattered voices on the lower level and the gentle whirring of floor waxers run by the cleaning crews.

Most of the customer-service areas were ready for the first travelers as 4 a.m. approached. Computers had been installed in most spots and were brought on line. A few clerks and managers started to leave, with a few others staying behind to hand over the reins to the morning shift. Security personnel quietly held down the fort, keeping eyes peeled for unauthorized intruders, but mostly biding time, waiting for the first passenger.

4 to 5 a.m.: The security guards didn’t have to wait long for the first passenger. He showed up at 4:15 a.m., nearly two hours before the terminal’s scheduled opening and nearly five hours before his 9 a.m. flight to Chicago.

“I thought my flight was going to be at 7 o’clock, now it’s 9 o’clock,” said Ronald M. Dreier, a Chicago resident who was in Orange County for a meeting of Century 21, explaining his pre-dawn arrival.

OK--but isn’t 4:15 a little early to arrive even for a flight at 7 o’clock? Dreier was asked.

“I enjoy being at the airport earlier,” he said. “Different strokes, right?”

While Dreier was by far the first passenger at the airport, he didn’t hold the distinction of being the first member of the public to be there. That prize went to Bob Morse, driver of Coast Yellow Cab Co. taxi No. 64. Morse, resplendent in a sort of Panama hat gone wild, drove up to the taxi stand at 4 a.m.--just a bit early for the first scheduled flight arrival at 7:25.

So why did Morse show up 3 1/4 hours early? “For that spot,” he said, pointing to first place in line at the curb beneath the sign marked, “Taxi Only.” “I wanted that spot, and I got it.” Half an hour later, a second cab arrived to take its place in line--surprised, no doubt, that the honor of carrying the first fare out of the new terminal was already secured by somebody else.

5 to 7 a.m.: With an hour left before its scheduled opening, the dormant terminal began to stir to life. Employees of restaurants, snack bars and shops began to arrive, quickly setting up shop for early-morning fliers.

“I’d love to answer your questions, but I just don’t have the time,” said Bob Elling, manager of the Orange Grill, as he hurried to load ice and wipe down the bar at the new restaurant. Still, Elling did find a minute to explain why he was so frenzied.

“This is going to be the biggest thing in Orange County for a long time,” he said. “This is a fantastic airport.”

Around the terminal, the final spit-and-polish touches were applied. Technicians checked the power at several gates, while restaurant workers started brewing coffee for the first bleary-eyed travelers. Airline counter clerks took their positions, and at 6 a.m., a few passengers started trickling into the airport. As the terminal officially opened, it was clear that everything had gone smoothly.

7 to 8 a.m.: And then came the fog.

Just after 7 a.m., a thick blanket of fog enshrouded the airport, leaving many to wonder if the textbook-perfect transition would be marred by an untimely act of nature. And while it did have a minor effect--the first scheduled arrival, a Skywest flight from Los Angeles, didn’t come in at 7:25, thereby delaying the 7:35 departure of a Skywest flight to Fresno--the fog did not prevent the first plane at the gate from leaving on time.

At 7:22 a.m., an agent at Gate 12 made the pre-boarding announcement for Delta Flight 750 to Dallas-Ft. Worth and Tampa, Fla. Despite the fog, the passengers were quickly boarded.

At 7:49, the first jetway ever used at John Wayne Airport rolled back from the plane, and a moment later, Delta Flight 750 taxied onto the runway.

The transition from the antiquated terminal to the terminal that will carry Orange County into the 21st Century was successful. The operations of the new John Wayne Airport were officially under way.

Postscript: Cab driver Bob Morse’s industriousness paid off. At 7:51 a.m., he was seen driving off with the first passenger ever to hail a cab at the new terminal.