VACATION FEVER: Spring brings summer vacation planning:...

VACATION FEVER: Spring brings summer vacation planning: Travel advisers say don’t wait because flights will fill up. . . . Proof? August was John Wayne Airport’s busiest month last year, with 42% higher passenger counts than February, the slowest month. Travel agents say you can lock in a low fare, then re-book for a nominal extra fee if a better bargain comes along. . . . Thom Nulty, president of Associated Travel Management in Santa Ana, says don’t necessarily expect lower fares by flying from Los Angeles: “I’ve seen Orange County with lower fares than” Los Angeles on various flights.

TAKING WING: Orange County’s newest airline is a five-plane affair where the president even helps with the piloting. It’s Arizona Airways, a commuter airline that will fly three daily round trips to Tucson starting May 1, connecting to the Mexican state of Sonora. . . . The commuter airline will fly 19-passenger Beech turboprops. “We forecast that (Orange County) will be our biggest market,” said Arizona Airways President Jim Swartz.

NO BONANZA: The first scheduled airport service at what is now John Wayne Airport began in 1952, when Bonanza Airlines starting flying DC-3s to Los Angeles, San Diego, El Centro and Phoenix. . . . At that time, the airport allowed drag racing on an unused runway, and had fewer landings than Fullerton Municipal Airport. Bonanza eventually became part of Hughes Air West, then Republic Airlines, then Northwest Airlines.

FLYING FOOD: If you are sampling the airborne cuisine on a flight out of John Wayne, chances are you are sampling a meal from Caterair International, which prepares food for every major airline here except Continental. . . . That’s about 36,000 meals a week, each made by the Potomac, Md., company’s kitchens near John Wayne. General Manager Bob Jewett said that since people are eating lighter, more airlines want “cold plates” that are more time-consuming to put together. But the real challenge is keeping up with special meals, everything from kosher to Hindu. With 80 different menus, “each airline is unique.”