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MCI-OAK on WN! my first TR!

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  • MCI-OAK on WN! my first TR!

    Hey everybody! this is my first trip report!

    Before I start this, I want to say something

    3 or 4 years ago, I never thought I would be saying this, I am going to get it over with and just say it right now.

    Southwest Airlines is a cool airline, that I will now consider to be high frills and Oakland International Airport is the nicest airport I have ever been to, and I think it's cooler than SFO I think it's cooler in terms of the way it's laid out, and how it looks on the inside, I think/know SFO is cooler for spotting. (I didn't visit the older sections of OAK, i stayed in the area that had like gate 20 something-32, and also the baggage claim)

    For the crew of this flight/ Employees that I talked to

    also, if anyone who was a part of the crew for this flight and if you were one of the people I talked to in Oakland, please send me a message! click on my username, and you should be able to send me a message there!

    Info about the flight

    WN:1487 MCI-OAK (BWI-MCI-OAK)
    Registration: N653SW
    Departure: 4:34 pm Arrival: 5:53pm Flight time of about 3 hours
    Route: CHIEF3 CATTS HLC J80 ILC TATOO DUGLE
    MADN4
    Altitude: 36,000 feet



    Arriving at the airport








    Check In

    I checked in online the day before, but I don't have a printer so I had to go to the desk, and I had to drop bags. I put a YX tag on my bag, I did that b/c it is easier to Identify it when I pick it up, b/c mine will be the only bag with a blue YX tag and a WN tag...not the case, the check in dude saw me trying to put a WN tag on my bag, he was like "Woah! are you doing, these things are expensive!" i talked with him for a bit, and he let me put the wn tag on my side handle, but I ruined it by writing on it! Hopefully I can get a blank WN tag for my collection when I come back...

    Terminal Spotting

    Terminal B, Gates 37-39 offer NOTHING for spotters! My plane left gate 37, and all I got were these really bad pictures... and the gate agent at the neighboring gate was giving me a wierd look...




    A UA CR7 departing MCI...yay how exciting...

    Boarding

    This was my first flight on Southwest, and I didn't really know that much about the "new" boarding procedures. I checked in the day before the flight and got card number "A 37". Boarding was a little bit hectic, because I saw some people not go with their appropriate group, and get this...boarding started before the plane was even at the gate!!!!!!!!

    The boarding totem poles at MCI.


    The plane finally pulls up, a 737-300...no winglets...




    Another arriving WN aircraft








    Arriving FL Aircraft

    Departing NW Aircraft

    Departing WN aircraft with my 737, along with 2 provisioning trucks


    Pre-Flight, Taxi and Takeoff

    The flight was average. but I still enjoyed it!

    Taxi: I got some photos during taxi, they aren't the best, but here they are. The flight attendant came and asked me to turn my camera off, and i did...i wanted to record the takeoff

    Here are the pictures from taxiing, it was really fast! WN pilots go really quickly! it usually takes about 4 or 5 mins on UA (and their gates are closer to 19R) and this took about 3 minutes.

    i had my little half section of the row to myself , then after takeoff 2 people filled those seats , i really didn't mind b/c they slept most of the flight, but then they left before we landed...







    Provisioning truck! yay!


    As you can tell MCI is a very exciting airport








    Anyone know any details on this? i've never heard of them before...




    Taken really quickly shortly after takeoff...



    In flight

    There were a ton of clouds around, it looked cool! but it was boring. If any of you have flown over western Kansas, you will know what I am talking about. I was looking forward to getting good pictures of the Rockies, but it there were clouds around until we got to the desert area ...

    The snack service was great! waaaaaayyyy better than the other US airlines! Oreos! except they did it very different than the other airlines, they wrote down peoples drink orders and brought it to them on a tray thingy, instead of a cart...

    anyways, here are some pictures from in-flight...

    Western Kansas, yay




    Clouds






    Somewhere over UT or NV








    Exiting NV, entering CA


    me trying to be artsy with a macro shot showing all of the dirt on the window... i know i'm not artsy, and it turned out bad...


    Approach/Landing

    We came in from the South East on approach to Runway 29 into Oakland International Airport. This was my first time flying into Oakland.









    Sry, i luv these types of shot that include the window...




    A plane about to takeoff from Hayward








    Video of landing! Sry! i accidentaly hit the shutter button after landing thinking i was going to take a pic (which i later did), and i started recording again in time to record the post-landing announcements! (for all of you that enjoy listening to those, i do...i'm not weird) I will post it later

    this landing seemed a lot more powerful than a lot of the other landings i have been on! This was the 1st time I've been on a plane where this much reverse thrust was used.

    Can any one id the Airbus at around 24?

    www.youtube.com http:>
    here is a link to the vid just in case it isn't showing up...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pgzUSNAR_I

    Post Flight

    This was a very fun flight! I talked with a really nice f/a after the flight, and she asked me if i wanted to go talk to the pilot and take a pic of inside the flight deck, as a plane geek i said sure!



    The first time I have seen a B6 aircraft!


    Triple Crown One

    Flight Deck

    Cabin shot!


    I was the last passenger off of the plane, and as I was getting of a CSR/gate agent was getting off the plane to! she was extremely kind, and fun to talk to! I told her that I am a commercial aviation enthusiast, and then we talked about Colleen Barrett! She was really nice!

    Oakland's airport was extremely nice, i was in a rush and i didn't get a pic of the newer area, but here is the thingy connecting the new with the older terminal...


    3 WN jets! of course this is oak! what else would you expect...oh wait, you could also expect 2 wn jets and a fedex...lol


    The window was dirty, my camera was focusing on the dirt


    After I collected my bags, I went to the baggage claim office and said something they would never have expected. "I just came off of the best flight ever, and it was awesome, thank you!" they were really surprised, and we talked about planes and Ms. Barrett!

    I got a request to end it like this,

    yo mamma!

  • #2
    Cool so far.

    I'm flying WN in a few weeks to TUS with my bro and some friends, I'm really not looking forward to this new boarding procedure. Our tickets can't be checked-in online, we have to go to the counter at SFO all togeather and check in. We can't do that until around 10pm, and checkin starts for the flight at 7am. With the old boarding system, we'd probably just get group A, get there early, and get on the plane in the first few people.

    But thanks to the NEW system, which I really don't like, we'll probably end up being the and least the 40th people to get on the plane. Ugh.

    Anyway, the WN terminal at MCI doesn't have any place to get decent shots, even if you walk around? I hate being stuck in a terminal like that. Can't wait to see how you liked their onboard product!

    EDIT: Ah, I see you're adding to this report bit by bit at the moment. USAJet is a DC-9-10/30 opperator in the US which suffered a crash in Mexico last week.
    sigpic
    http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?userid=170

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Crunk415balla
      Anyway, the WN terminal at MCI doesn't have any place to get decent shots, even if you walk around? I hate being stuck in a terminal like that. Can't wait to see how you liked their onboard product!
      Idk, I guess you can get some from the DL gates! Terminal B is DL and WN, 5 Delta and 9 Southwest Airlines gates...The southwest airlines gates are divided up, like 30-36 and 37-40. I was on the side that was 37-40, which is in the middle of the terminal. MCI's terminals are like half circles, here is a terminal map of mci http://flykci.com/AirportService/29/Index.htm

      a map of MCI is on here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_...tional_Airport, and as you can see you can't really get any good photos... the one of the CR7 taking off was taken at Gate 38 of a plane departing 19R, and my camera has a 10x zoom, and that wasn't even close enough... i guess terminal B is good if 1L or 9 is in use...

      Comment


      • #4
        Chasen-

        The new boarding procedure had nothing to do with this. You are traveling on paper tickets, so irregardless you have to check in at the airport either way, to prove your tickets, old or new boarding procedure.

        Jazzy- Great Report! Sounds like all went smooth, I think they did a swap for your flight if you were due to get winglets and you did not.

        You flying back to MCI or driving or what?

        Have a good time in OAK!

        Alex
        Stop Searching. Start Traveling. southwest.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by ATrude777
          You flying back to MCI or driving or what?
          yeah, i'm flying on WN3067 OAK-MCI on August 5th!

          Comment


          • #6
            i was looking through my pics, and i have a blurry pic of the airbus taking off...


            it appears to say "Sata International" with what looks like a french flag near the nose...OAK-CDG/any other french airport...ummm never gonna happen... so is it a charter? any one know?

            Comment


            • #7
              Nice report and pics

              About MCI, I can relate. I've never flown in or out of that airport, but back in 1975 (I'm old), I was flying JFK-LAX on a TWA 741, and we had to land at MCI because of a problem with the #3 engine. We were sitting on the right side by the wing, and an F/A came by and asked if we could see any smoke coming from the engine. Nice. So we landed, and once at the gate, they finished showing the movie (they had stopped it while we were landing). Then they may have served some drinks. Then they lest us commoners in coach tour the first class lounge in the hump. Meanwhile, work is continuing on the stricken engine. Finally, they let us disembark and go into the terminal for food. Problem is, they ran out! (it was Good Friday and some of the stands might've closed early, or something). They apparently were having trouble fixing the engine, and there was talk of taking the 741 out of service and putting us on two different planes (I'm guessing 707s or even 727s), but eventually they were able to fix it and we got back underway. Oh, I forgot, the food areas at that time were all outside of security, so we had to be rescreened to board the plane, even though we hadn't left the terminal! Oh well, at least back then it wasn't the TSA-mega hassle you have nowadays. (Hopefully, MCI has eating areas inside the secure zone these days!). We had left JFK at 12:00 Noon, and were due to LAX around 2 PM Pacific Time, instead we arrived at 9 PM, PST (which was midnight EST) Nice 12 hour trip.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by transitfan
                Nice report and pics
                thank you!

                wow! 747s at MCI!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ATrude777
                  Chasen-

                  The new boarding procedure had nothing to do with this. You are traveling on paper tickets, so irregardless you have to check in at the airport either way, to prove your tickets, old or new boarding procedure.
                  Yes, but Alex, with the old procedure, I would simply be "GROUP A", and get to SFO early the next day and be one of the first on the plane. But now I will be "A37" or something, and be the 37th person on the plane.

                  Get what I meant?

                  Jazzy, SATA flies A310s into OAK every summer, but I forget where they go. And it is schedualed service, but seasonal.
                  sigpic
                  http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?userid=170

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    [QUOTE=Crunk415balla]But now I will be "A37" or something, and be the 37th person on the plane.
                    QUOTE]

                    I got A37 too, and the plane was doing a thru stop when i got on, it was empty in the back...

                    i liked it... i doubt there would be too many people wanting to go SFO-TUS, lol


                    i am in milbre right now! it is awesome! while driving here, i saw an SQ 777 landing! it was amazing!

                    i also saw a YX MD-80 do a parallel landing with an AS737 a while ago...that is the 6th time i've seen it happen!!!!!!! every time i come to the bay area the YX and AS jet always do a parallel landing!!!!!!!!! i'm like wtf, how do the have that happen all the time...and every time that happens i don't have my camera, i left it at my cousins house...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by jazzyspreetsingh
                      thank you!

                      wow! 747s at MCI!
                      Yep. I doubt if MCI had any scheduled 747 service back then, the reason we landed there is b/c that was TW's maintenance base (strange it would be there instead of STL, but I guess TW had their reasons).

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        i just went to bay front park, and omfg it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!

                        i didn't have my camera with me! i went to a mexican restaraunt called "El Toritos" or something like that, and is near bay front park, and it has huge windows where you can look at the runway! we got a table next to a window! i don't remember what the food was like, b/c that wasn't what i was paying attention to! lol

                        i saw a couple 777s taking off, and you can also see the last half of the 1s...it was awesome!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          El Torito's is a great resturaunt. I have a buddy whos a waiter there, I like to eat there and give him hell. Sometimes I used to run by the windows along that trail parallel to the 28s and flash him my stuff while he's seeing to customers. Highschool, good times.

                          Should have let me know you were in "Da Brae", I would have taken you for a spin in my Caddy and shown you some kick ass spots at SFO no one seems to know about.
                          sigpic
                          http://www.jetphotos.net/showphotos.php?userid=170

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Crunk415balla
                            Should have let me know you were in "Da Brae", I would have taken you for a spin in my Caddy and shown you some kick ass spots at SFO no one seems to know about.
                            i was looking for the plane spotters out at bay front park... i didn't see any that day! i have to go back there with my camera whenever i have time! my scheduele is full, idk if i have any time to go there again, at least i finally got to go there, and know what it is like! but i was dissapointed i didn't bring my camera with me, but i can hopefully go again b4 i leave, but if i do, it will probably be the middle of the day on a weekday, if i am even able to go...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Crunk415balla
                              Sometimes I used to run by the windows along that trail parallel to the 28s and flash him my stuff while he's seeing to customers.
                              can the people on that trail see through the windows? for some reason i was thinking they couldn't, but anyways, it explanes wierd stares from people jogging on the trail, maybe b/c it was b/c i had my whole face pressed against the windows...lol

                              i just came back with my cousin from Tracy, CA (he's a real estate agent, and he was showing houses there, and i went with him) OMFG, it was the most boring town in the whole world! it looked a lot like what people stereotype kansas to be!

                              I hope to live in the bay area after high school, i hope to go to Stanford, and then after that get a good job as a systems person/computer geek or if possible hopefully go into management at VX and then hopefully be able to afford to buy a house in Burlingame or Milbre! i love milbre, is the weather nice there all the time? it is never foggy whenever i go there, is it ever foggy there?

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