Full Flights and the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’

Santa Barbara Airport got ready for the holiday travel season with a briefing on longer waits for flights and screening, as well as a little impromptu cheer. SBA recently released a bulletin advising travelers throughDecember 25 to get to the airport a good 90 minutes early. Already, Alaska Air flights to Seattle and Portland report being 95 percent full, and SBA expects United Airlines and Frontier flights to experience equal wait times.

Passengers at the airport on December 3 experienced a different sort of delay. What started as a solo singer of the “Hallelujah Chorus” segued into a “flash mob” harmony of the Handel holiday classic by the full San Marcos Madrigal Choir — all 60 of them — led by director Carolyn Teraoka-Brady. See the video here, along with shorts of United customer service agent Peter Kravchuk singing “Jingle Bells” and the Santa Barbara Festival Ballet excerpting The Nutcracker.