Officials are on track to spend about $700 million to give John Wayne Airport a facelift by 2031, touching nearly every corner of the more than 510-acre facility.
Key projects include modernizing restrooms, resurfacing taxiways, installing new elevators and escalators and upgrading the baggage handling system. JWA’s more than 11 million annual travelers will also soon have even more expanded food and retail options to choose from, airport officials said.
“Part of my commitment coming in was to upgrade the infrastructure,” said Airport Director Charlene Reynolds, who took over at JWA in May 2022, said. “We started off with the food, beverage and retail. In June and July, we’ll open the first set of our revamped restrooms. Then we’ll continue over the next year to 18 months until we upgrade all of the restrooms.”
Two months ago, airport officials took an unused room and transformed it into a $250,000 children’s play area, Reynolds said.
“Every time I go through the terminal, all you hear is pure laughter,” Reynolds said. “We have a seascape that ties into the overall change that we’re going forward with at the airport of really making it an Orange County sense of place.”
The next big projects to tackle, Reynolds said, are the 30-year-old escalators and elevators, and then officials can move on to revamping the airport’s baggage claim system.
“Right now, it takes a little bit to get your bags at John Wayne Airport, so it’ll take, between design and construction, about three years for us to get a new baggage handling system,” Reynolds said. “That’s a new convenience for the traveler.”
Reynolds said airport officials want to touch every aspect of the airport.
“We’re looking at bringing in new seating, new charging stations, the list goes on and on. It’s my goal to change as much as I possibly can and upgrade it in the airport.” Reynolds said. “We’re having these nursing mother pods installed in the next two months. That’s an amenity and an upgrade for those needing privacy to nurse their children. That’s something very, very important to me as well.”
The upgrades are happening outside the terminals as well.
In April, the OC Board of Supervisors approved spending about $102 million to replace aging pavement on taxiways — the roadways planes use to move around the airport — and realign the roads to meet current Federal Aviation Administration separation standards.
Taxiways have more of a significant impact on most travelers than people might realize, said AnnaSophia Servin, JWA spokesperson.
“A more efficient taxiway system helps reduce aircraft ground delays, improves runway access, and enhances safety for both arriving and departing flights,” Servin said. “All of that translates into shorter taxi times, fewer delays at the gate, and a more reliable schedule for passengers.”
Reynolds said the funds for the projects and upgrades come from revenue generated by the airport, along with about $93.5 million in federal grants.
“The infrastructure improvements that we’re making inside the airport … all of that is to create better guest services, better customer service, make it comfortable for travelers,” said OC Supervisor Katrina Foley, whose Fifth District includes the airport.
Foley said when Reynolds came on board, she set about taking inventory of the airport’s deferred maintenance needs. The upgrades, Foley added, also include power generation updates, runway rehabilitation and accessibility improvements.
“That’s in addition to the general aviation improvement plan, where the fixed operators are upgrading their facilities,” she said. “Those facilities are also outdated and in need of an upgrade, utilizing the space better, redesigning them so that the hangars take up less space.”
Along with the large commercial airlines that ferry hundreds of travelers at a time in and out of JWA, the airport serves “general aviation” as well, which includes hobbyists flying Cessnas and vintage biplanes, corporate and private jets and helicopters.
Several years ago, the OC Board of Supervisors approved a redesign of the airport’s general aviation program, including a redevelopment for three operators at the airport, intended to improve safety and utilize land more efficiently.
In 2020, the supervisors agreed to 35-year leases with Clay Lacy Aviation, ACI Jet and Jay’s Aircraft Maintenance to operate the airport’s general aviation facilities. The airport is home to nearly 500 general aviation aircraft, representing nearly 70% of its operations. The County of Orange also collects property taxes on airplanes located at the airport.
In March, charter jet service JSX moved its operations to the west side of the airport to one of the new expanded hangars.
“The new space has allowed us to announce a new service to Napa, and we have more unique destinations in store,” a company spokesperson said in an email.
The move is reflective of John Wayne Airport’s commitment to change and innovation, the JSX spokesperson said. With the charter carriers like JSX, travelers can skip the lines of the main terminal to hop onto the smaller jets, making them an attractive option to many.
“The commitment of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Vice Chair Katrina Foley, and Airport Director Charlene Reynolds is remarkable – proof that industry and government can work together in the public interest,” the spokesperson said. “Their vision and leadership undoubtedly paved the way forward for JSX at JWA. “
As several airport projects get underway, Reynolds said their planning is happening in a very “prescribed manner” to cause the least amount of disruption for travelers as possible.
“We’ve had to create what’s called a master schedule to make sure that we don’t have competing projects going on at the same time,” Reynolds said. “Some things we can do in multiples, but we need to be very, very cognizant that we don’t cause any problems within the terminal, any backups, any disruption in power.”
A lot of things can go wrong with trying to do so many things across the airport campus, Reynolds added.
“That’s why we have an internal team dedicated to making sure that we have minimum impact,” Reynolds said. “We meet every single week, going over all the projects in the airport with the community in mind, and making sure that we’re not creating any unnecessary challenges for them.”