SNA has been due for expansion for some time. (Other than my Angels musings, I've actually been an aerospace reporter for about a decade.) It has the highest passengers per gate usage in the country, and for some unknown reason, appears totally inept at managing passengers through security. I've never, ever seen an airport where security lines are as poorly managed as at John Wayne, and that includes going through some pretty difficult airports as Orlando during the summer, and London Heathrow. When the busy travel periods hit John Wayne, it's like trying to walk through Costco on a Saturday afternoon -- all bodies, no floor space.
John Wayne is a piece of cake compared to Dane County Airport (the one in Madison). And Dane County has just 10 gates and way fewer passengers than John Wayne (they get like less than 5 flights an hour here...total), but they have no inkling how to move people through security and so I end up waiting as long or longer there than I ever have through John Wayne.
