The passenger list for American Eagle’s first direct flight from Santa Fe to Los Angeles on Thursday was fittingly “Santa Fe”: a resident movie star (and her dog), a business tycoon, a psychic, a massage therapist, a resident sculptor and a male art dealer with shoulder-length platinum hair.
“One is me, and the other is … this is my daughter,” quipped actress Shirley MacLaine to ticket clerk Lucy Garcia, who peered over the counter at. Terry, MacLaine’s rat terrier, who was sitting calmly in its “service dog” jacket, tucked inside a black bag.
Asked what kind of service dog Terry was, MacLaine said, “She accompanies me everywhere and she makes everybody she meets happy.”
An airport employee carried the dog onto the plane for MacLaine, known as author of books on past lives as well as an Oscar-winning actress. She was officially the first ever to board a Santa Fe-to-LA commercial airline flight, and Terry was No. 2.
Businessman and gallery owner Gerald Peters was at the far side of the ticket counter, having missed an earlier flight from Albuquerque to Los Angeles because of a meeting that ran too long.
“I’d rather skip the hoopla,” Peters said of the crowd gathered around Gov. Bill Richardson in the airport’s restaurant area for the day’s official festivities in honor of the new flight. “But I’m glad it’s here.”
Peters did stay out of the hoopla, making cell phone calls in front of the cooler at the restaurant packed with cans of Dr Pepper and A&W root beer.
While passengers were told to be there 90 minutes before the flight, they began arriving about 1:45 p.m., an hour before the 2:45 p.m. takeoff time.
Most of them were reveling in the ease of the departure at the tiny airport.
“I remember in Albuquerque when you could drive up to the airport and park and come back three weeks later with no parking fees,” said Mary Utton. She was embarking on a family vacation to Maui.
People can park at the Santa Fe Municipal Airport for $3 a day. Sculptor Judith Klausner — who was heading out for a visit with friends in Los Angeles and then a cruise down the coast of Mexico — had a friend drop her off for the flight.
“It’s just so much easier flying out of here,” Klausner said. There was no line at the counter, no line at the security checkpoint.
And for art dealer John Schaefer, “This is 22 minutes from my house, 18 minutes from my office. It’s just more convenient on a tight schedule.”
Schaefer had booked his flight a few days before and paid about $300, but airline staffers said a $198 round trip was possible, if booked early enough and for certain days.
Psychic Jeannine Kim, her massage therapist husband Rich Lee and their 3-year-old son Kai were taking the flight to celebrate Kai’s birthday at Disneyland.
“It’s so much easier with a kid flying out of our own town,” said Kim. “It’s 10 minutes from our house.”
Watching all the hubbub was an out-of-stater waiting for the day’s other inaugural flight, an additional afternoon flight to Dallas-Fort Worth. American Eagle’s commercial airline service started at the Santa Fe airport earlier this year.
“They’ve had direct morning flights but not afternoon flights,” said the Texas woman who would not give her name. She had flown into Santa Fe to drive to Taos.
“There was nothing I wanted to see in Albuquerque this trip,” she said. “Sorry, Albuquerque.”
By Polly Summar
Journal Northern Bureau

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