Holiday Travelers Encounter Smooth Sailing at Airport : Thanksgiving: Problems are few on one of the year’s heaviest travel days. Freeway traffic is heavy but without major delays.

Holiday travelers expecting hassles and delays at John Wayne Airport on Wednesday found themselves killing time in the waiting area instead.

Dorothy Hackfield of Fullerton, who had arrived three hours early to pick up her son from Denver, wanted to avoid “holiday traffic, parking problems and possible fog,” she said. Finding none of the above, she and her husband settled in for a long wait.

Holiday traffic on Orange County freeways Wednesday was heavy as expected, but there were no major delays, a California Highway Patrol official said.

Airport officials said that flight departures continued smoothly all day and that only a few air carriers had overbooked flights.

Pat Ware, airport spokesperson, said airlines were expecting just over 18,000 travelers on Wednesday, one of the heaviest travel days of the year. Travel volume will be heavy again on Sunday.

Today through Saturday, airlines probably will see about half that much volume, an America West supervisor said. Last-minute travelers should be able to get tickets on those slower days.

By early Wednesday evening, terminals were scattered with duffel bags, backpacks and strollers. Travelers were sprawled across chairs reading books and newspapers. The airport bars and restaurants filled with people sipping drinks, nibbling at food and checking their watches.

“We planned ahead and got here early,” said Andrew Moore, a student at Chapman University traveling home to Chico with his sister, Heather. “But other than getting seats together, we didn’t have to get here this early.”

Few travelers longed for the cramped quarters common in the airport before its remodeling and expansion this year. “The old one was like sitting in a box with 800 people. I would sit on the floor in order to get some space,” said Heather Moore. “But this airport is really nice and big.”

Only travelers hoping to take advantage of overbooked flights were disappointed.

“We were hoping to get bumped and get free tickets,” said Catherine Cuenca, who was flying home with her family to Seattle.