Thanksgiving holiday travel: Smooth sailing at this LAX terminal

A dozen skycaps goofing off at Delta Gate 53, then scattering like cats when a supervisor approaches. At the El Cholo Cantina, a customer thinks he might have swallowed a shard of glass. Just another day at LAX.

But not really. On the morning before Thanksgiving, the place is fully staffed and on its best behavior. Waits at some checkpoints were only five minutes for early-morning flights. “It’s almost anticlimactic,” said passenger Patric White. “Not that I’d welcome any trouble.”

White and Jesse Barron, both of Redondo Beach, were headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They were out the door at 5:30 a.m. and waiting at their Delta gate by 6:30 a.m. for the 8:15 a.m. flight. “It’s actually quieter than is typical,” White said. “All the TSA people were very friendly and engaging. ... They went out of their way to explain things.”

How early is too early to get to this Southern California airport on Wednesday? Pepperdine University graduate student Millicent Macaiwana was at the gate at 6 a.m. for her 10:15 a.m. flight to Atlanta. “My mom was just laughing at me,” she said.