Sue Bowes and her husband, Bud, weren’t expecting music while waiting for their flight to Chicago Tuesday afternoon. And, for that matter, they were surprised to find a display of nibbles from cupcakes and fruit to pigs in a blanket.

What they did find is what they have come to expect at Green Airport – easier access than Boston that they’ll choose even when it means taking a connecting flight to their destination. Residents of Waterford, Conn., the Boweses were flying to California via an American Airlines connecting flight from O’Hare in Chicago.

What the Bowes didn’t realize is that they would be taking American’s inaugural flight from Green Tuesday afternoon. The airlines commenced two daily flights – one at about 7 a.m., and another at 5 p.m. – with 63-passenger jet service.

According to Tyler Duvall, American general manager at Green, the added service gives American 20 daily flights from Green. Duvall was joined by Rhode Island Airport Corporation staff in handing out goodie bags with such items as green socks to those arriving at the airport. The same plane would turn around to make the trip back to the Windy City with about 40 passengers.

Peter Frazier, interim RIAC president, viewed the initiation of service in the grander scheme of better serving travelers and growth of the airport. He pointed out that with the service the airport is providing the seats for an additional 90,000 passengers over the course of a year.

With the Chicago service, Duvall noted, American will add a third connecting airport to its reach from Green. American offers service to Charlotte, N.C. and Washington Reagan Airport, both hubs for American flights to other destinations.

Asked whether direct service from Green to Los Angeles could be in American’s future, Duval said, “I would love to see an LA flight.”

With the extension of Green’s major runway from about 7,200 to 8,700 feet, the airport will have the infrastructure for regular transcontinental nonstop service. Work on that runway extension is projected to start this summer and be completed by December 2017.

Frazier was quick not to make any promises about nonstop service to the West Coast. Even should airlines choose not to offer such service from Green, he noted the longer runway gives carriers greater flexibility and improves safety.