Little holiday turbulence at JWA

While the terminals at John Wayne Airport bustled with holiday travelers Wednesday, Hany Gergis enjoyed a moment of peace and calm.

The owner of the airport’s Royal Shuttle service said he got only a scattered few customers the day before Thanksgiving, since most people opted to pick up their family members themselves rather than let them take a shuttle.

He added, however, that he expected his job to grow hectic again as soon as visitors boarded their planes back home.

“It’s usually very, very slow right before Thanksgiving,” Gergis said. “Right after Thanksgiving, it gets very, very busy.”

Outside the shuttle services, John Wayne Airport drew a steady line of passengers Wednesday and the days before, as officials ramped up personnel to accommodate the swell of people before the holiday.

The Automobile Club of Southern California predicted 3.07 million residents throughout the Southland would travel over the four-day weekend — a 1.3% increase over the year before — with 432,000 of them expected to take planes.

Courtney Wiercioch, a spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport, said the day before Thanksgiving had been the busiest of the week in 2006, followed by the Sunday after the holiday. She added that officials would not have passenger numbers until next week, but as of Wednesday afternoon, the airport had gotten by without any major hassles.

“I’ve talked to folks in the terminal today, and they’ve said it is amazingly smooth,” Wiercioch said. “There are very little, if any, waits in the security checkpoint. I don’t know if people are coming more prepared, if they’re coming earlier, if they’re packing their bags the way they’re supposed to, but folks are amazed at how smoothly it’s running.”

Jessica Kissel, a Santa Ana resident and UCI student who planned to fly to Texas to see her mother Wednesday afternoon, said she had made it nearly to the front of the line within 15 minutes.

“It’s shorter than it usually is,” she said.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.