Passenger Traffic Light at John Wayne Airport

Though some people claim the Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times for travelers, you wouldn’t have known it at John Wayne Airport.

Sunday afternoon there were rarely more than a handful of people around baggage claim and finding a parking spot was tough but not impossible.

“It pretty much seems like a normal Sunday operation around here, to tell you the truth,” said Michael Lektorich, operations coordinator at John Wayne.

Skycap Christopher Williams said the lack of traffic Sunday was surprising.

“It ain’t nothing like last year. It’s kind of slow,” said Williams, who has worked at John Wayne for three years. “It seems like it was more busy before the (Persian Gulf) War. It’s never been the same since.”

Kim McGee, an American Airlines baggage service agent, felt like many employees at the airport--mystified.

“It’s been dead. I don’t know why,” McGee said.

California Highway Patrol officials, meanwhile, reported heavy traffic on Orange County’s freeways but said there weren’t any unusual backups.