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"It's On!" -- Flying with LUV to LAX

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  • "It's On!" -- Flying with LUV to LAX

    "It's On!" -- Flying with LUV to LAX
    Southwest Airlines
    MCI-LAX

    The title of this trip report is from Southwest's new ad campaign.




    "LUV" is Southwest's stock symbol.

    Preface
    I am taking this trip to go to the national Future Business Leaders of America competition. This competition took place in Anaheim, CA on June 25th-28th, and it is where the best people from every state go and compete. I was competing in the same event I did in DECA at the ICDC (see a previous trip report I wrote). I was on a team that wrote a business plan about a unique insurance company, and we got the opportunity to compete nationally for a second time!



    Basic Information

    Airline: Southwest (WN)
    Flight: 974
    Equipment: 737-700
    Date: June 25th, 2009
    Route: MCI-LAX-OAK
    Route:CHIEF3 CATTS HLC J64 PGS RIIVR2
    Reg: N271LV
    Depart: 8:18
    Arrive: 9:22


    Getting to the airport
    I woke up at 3:30 a.m. for an 8:05 departure. I did this out of excitement, for both FBLA and because I got to fly on Southwest! I was on my email and IM for a while and chatted with a couple people (you'll be surprised how many people IM at 3 am...) I also did last minute packing of items I somehow forgot. (I began packing a week in advance, and I still somehow forgot stuff...) I managed to trash my room, which sucked! People sometimes think I have OCD, because I am obsessed with keeping my room organized and clean, but I managed to trash it in the rush that I was in that morning!

    I got a ride with one of my friends to the airport. We left around 6:30ish, and it was fun.

    Arriving at the airport
    I was at the airport and checked in a little before 7:30. When I got to the airport I saw that Kansas City was busier than I have ever seen it. The line to check in inside was extremely long, so we decided to check in outside. The people working there were really friendly and cool.

    Pulling into the airport


    Seeing a couple WN jets parked at Terminal B


    Checking in outside... it was raining.


    After checking in I went to security, which surprisingly was not a hassle! (two trips in a row!!! WOW!)...they weren't friendly, but they weren't mean either, but I was just happy to not have any problems!

    After getting past security I see ship N271LV getting prepared to go to Los Angeles.


    While I was waiting for boarding to begin I sat in the nice and comfortable seats that SWA has in their gate areas!


    I was also doing some plane spotting!

    This was a flight heading to Denver, and they did a last second gate swap; which confused a lot of passengers. The flight was originally supposed to depart out of gate 31, but was changed to 39. This was a problem because to get to gate 39 from 31, you would have to get out of security, and go through it again. Eventually everything worked out, and the flight was on its way to Denver!




    Seats and N271LV


    I thought this would make a cool photo


    A Great Lakes Beech 1900 aircraft.


    A Midwest Embraer 170

    I can't believe what is going on with Midwest. When I was in 6th and 7th grade, they were my favorite airline. I only flew with them once, but it was very memorable. I flew with them on YX2 on an MD-81 back in 2005 to SFO and it was my first time flying unaccompanied. I really loved flying them! Their cookies were the best and the 2x2 configuration provided a ton of room! (I was on a "Signature Service" jet) The people were mostly friendly, and everything seemed very professional when I flew them. They truly seemed like "The best care in the Air".

    I remember when I used to come to MCI and see all 9 of their gates occupied, and when one of their jets departed, a new one would take its place within 5 minutes. Today at most there are 2 or 3 jets on the ground.

    I never thought I would see YX in the state they are in right now. I remember a couple years ago when a bunch of people were speculating about YX getting 737-800s and expanding, but today they are essentially becoming a virtual airline with Republic operating their Embraer 170s for them.

    I know that Republic bought out YX, and I'm hoping that they can fix them. I heard somewhere that they will sell all of YX's 717s. I am really sad to see the 717s leave the fleet. It feels really awkward to see YX jets that don't have T-Tails.

    How are YX's employees impacted by this? (the pilot's and flight attendants mainly?) Will they become certified to fly the E-Jets? or will they be out of jobs? What is Tim Hoeksema going to do after this?

    I know that dealing with Republic was probably one of the only ways YX could survive in this environment, but I hope that the YX brand can remain strong and keep a good reputation.

    I guess I'll move on from YX now, lol...sorry about that! I'm from the Kansas City area, and they were "Kansas City's favorite airline", and I had a friends who had parents that used to work for them.


    Boarding
    I checked in almost exactly 24 hours before the flight, and ended up with A31. Boarding went pretty smoothly, and I settled into seat 17F, sitting next to one of my best friends. This flight was completely full, so unfortunately we didn't get an empty seat to be able to have some breathing room...but that was okay.

    I got this picture while waiting to board.


    Right when they called my number a UA 757 in "battleship colors" had to taxi by, and like always--the picture of it did not turn out well!


    My view from seat 17F


    The row across from me


    Two Southwest aircraft + the winglet of my aircraft


    Taxi and Takeoff
    We soon pushed back from the gate, and this was when I realized that this is going to be an awesome flight! The flight crew on this flight was hilarious!

    They started off the flight with the safety demo, which was probably my favorite out of any of the flights I have ever taken!!!

    I especially love the last comment in the video!



    While I was plane spotting I saw that runway 9 was the departure runway, and I was excited because this would be my first time departing from 9. Then the sun came out and the weather moved away, and the departures started using the 19s. I was kind of sad because I wanted to experience something different, but at least I got to see my favorite view after take off!

    I thought my flight would taxi to 19L, but to my surprise we went to 19R! This was my first time taking off from 19R! And I still got to see my favorite view after takeoff!

    A CO 737 departing 19R.


    Taxiing out


    The American Airlines (former TWA) maintenance base.


    Some buildings seen right before takeoff


    Here is a video of the takeoff + some of the in flight video. Sorry about the quality of the video, but I had to compress it so it wouldn't take forever to upload



    My favorite view when I take off from Kansas City.


    Climbing


    In-Flight
    Southwest Airlines always manages to provide a better experience every time I fly them!!! Southwest was the airline I flew for this trip because they offered an outstanding experience on my previous flights, and they had the convenience of a non-stop flight to LAX. This flight wasn't necessarily the cheapest flight I have ever paid for, and when booking this trip I saw that other airlines had fares a lot lower (with baggage charges added) & the flight I was looking at was also non-stop. But Southwest has always provided an outstanding service, and I knew that I would be around employees who are amazing! If I would have flown on YX, I would've gotten on a 717 and cookies, but the downside would be that it would have been a gamble on whether or not I got a good flight crew. On WN I can always expect above and beyond service, so I will always fly them whenever I can! This flight and flight crew were amazing, and it was totally worth every cent!

    This flight crew was easily the best out of any I have ever had! They pulled off the servant's heart and warrior spirit pretty well, and they really showed their fun-LUVing attitude!!! They were really nice and were always smiling. The lead flight attendant on this flight was especially nice! She made sure that everyone was happy and well taken care of. She walked around the cabin giving coloring books to kids, and she was just a fun person to hang around with!

    A picture I took once we broke out of the clouds. It was a really nice sight, and we had a pretty fun ride! There was some moderate turbulence, and it was pretty fun! What fun is a flight without some turbulence?


    I really thought these clouds looked awesome! I took advantage of the photo opportunity!




    Here is an airport I saw right after take off. I was thinking this was Olathe New Century (IXD/KIXD), but now I'm not so sure. If it was New Century, then I would have seen the Johnson County Executive Airport (OJC/KOJC) near it.


    Pretty soon snack service started. The awesome lead flight attendant made an announcement talking about the food options and stuff. The options were: oatmeal, bacon & eggs, and toast....but they were all disguised as Ritz Cheese crackers, Oreo's and animal crackers!

    The flight crew also went through and did a beverage service, and I got a Dr. Pepper! I am actually surprised at how many free options WN has on their drink menu!

    Here is a picture of what I had on the flight. The duck is there so the tray table doesn't look empty, and I brought my own bagel b/c SWA doesn't serve those!

    My friend sitting next to me decided to sleep during the flight, and she was leaning forward and sleeping on her tray table....throughout the flight I was hitting her in the head with my camera and tray table on accident! If you read this--sorry about that! lol


    Pretty soon the clouds were gone, and I was able to have a view of the most interesting state in the US--Kansas.


    We soon flew over the Rockies, and I was looking forward to getting good pictures from the air...and of course there had to be clouds over the entire mountain range!


    The clouds were a lot more solid than this. This was taken just as we began to fly over the Rockies.




    After we got out of the clouds we were over Arizona, and the pilot made an announcement saying that we were flying over the Grand Canyon! --I always appriciate whenver pilots tell us if we're flying over anything cool.








    We began to get closer to Los Angeles, and I saw some pretty interesting clouds.


    The awesome flight attendant made an announcement for everybody to pull down their window shades, and push their flight attendant call button. I was thinking "What are we doing?" and pretty soon I began to think "Wow! This is pretty cool!" It actually did look awesome! I got a picture of it, but this picture couldn't capture how awesome it looked! I used a slower shutter speed so I wouldn't have to increase my ISO.


    I was still wondering why she asked us to pull our shades down and why she was doing this. It turns out it was somebody's birthday! It was some lady who was turning "plenty-nine" years old!

    I think that doing this on a flight made it more special for the lady with the birthday, and I thought that this was a creative thing to do!

    Here is a video I took.



    Approach and Landing
    Sadly, this flight was coming to an end.

    I have never had so much fun on a flight, and I really hope that I can be with this flight crew again in the future! They were really the best, and they made flying really fun! (or more fun than it already is! )

    We began our descent into LA really smoothly, and the flight attendants began to prepare for landing. They seemed to have fun making announcements, and it was a blast! I really loved this crew!

    The approach was pretty nice! Before we hit the LA area we flew over a bunch of cool places. Then we hit the marine layer, and photography really wasn't all that great. Why is LAX never sunny and perfect when I want it to be? ....lol

    Here is a picture of an airport I saw while on approach


    A picture I took during the beginning of our approach


    Random town...




    Speed brakes


    Race Track




    I saw some shiny thing off in the distance. I decided to use my camera's full zooming power (48x...10x optical 4.8 digital) I saw it was another jet!!! An American 767.


    Starting to get lower and descend into the Marine Layer.


    In the Marine Layer


    Flaps down






    Here is a video of the approach with some funny announcements!



    I am very sorry, and I am kicking myself because of this-but I do not have a video of the landing!
    I was recording, and I decided to switch my camera to it's photography mode to get some shots before touch down, and I forgot to switch it back! I realized this when we were on the ground at LAX... the announcements after the landing were hilarious though!!!

    We landed on 24L, it was probably the smoothest landing I have ever experienced! I was impressed about that, but I was disappointed. I usually like a little bounce or some last minute moves to line up! But the pilots made me happy by really getting on the brakes and using a lot of reverse thrust!!!

    We then turned off the runway, and began our taxi to the gate.

    I saw this Qantas 747.


    A Mexicana Airbus.


    A winglet equipped AA757 taking off


    A Virgin America Airbus. I hope to try them out one day! One of my friends went to Anaheim and stayed at the same hotel that I did, and he was supposed to be there on the same days I was. His original intent was to drive to LA, but he found a cheap flight on VX for a different date. I was kind of sad he wasn't there, but another one of my friends from Kansas was there! He is also an airline geek, so we talked for a while.


    We continued our taxi, and I saw something that did not fit at the NW (or should I say DL?) gates. I couldn't believe it! I saw a Delta Air Lines A320 for the 2nd time in my life!! ...it feels really weird to be saying DL and A320...


    There was also a Delta/Northwest 747-400 (saying DL and 747-400 also feels weird)


    A view of the AS gates


    My first time seeing a new colored HP 757 in person! (You can probably tell I don't visit the airport that much...)


    An impressive lineup of tails! You certainly won't see this in Kansas!


    This was another excellent Southwest flight
    I really loved the experience I had on this flight. This flight crew treated everyone with Southwest Hospitality, and showed some great SOUTHWEST SPIRIT! They made the flight fun, and reminded me why I LUV Southwest!

    Pulling into the gate


    I loved the flight attendant's announcement. It was in the video above, but, "Get Ready...Get Set....Get Out!"


    Like always, I usually visit the flight deck after the flight! I don't care that I have a lot of pictures of WN flight decks, it is always fun to go and visit with the pilots at the end of every flight! The captain on this flight has worked with Southwest for 27 years, and he told me his daughter was also in FBLA. I wish I could have talked to him for a bit longer, but my friends were waiting, and this plane had to do a quick turn-around to head to Oakland.




    I really like the glass panel cockpits.


    The forward galley


    My luggage took about 30 minutes to arrive...I was expecting this because it was LAX. We then took Super Shuttle to the Anaheim Hilton. On the way to the hotel we passed by interesting places like the jail Paris Hilton stayed at, and one of the biggest parking lots....cause those are totally the things I came to visit LA to see

    A pic outside of the baggage claim area


    the tower


    LA


    CO 752 equipped with winglets.


    DL Terminal


    Now that I was in Anahiem, "It was on"! My team and I went to lunch, and then we were hard at work rehearsing our presentation of our business plan. We were working hard to be successful and "get the edge" in Anaheim!

    Thanks for reading my report! I hope you enjoyed it! I would appreciate any suggestions for future reports, and comments about this one!





  • #2
    FYI: That's a Beech 1900D not a Great Lakes EMB plane.
    My Flickr Pictures! Click Me!

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Cam View Post
      FYI: That's a Beech 1900D not a Great Lakes EMB plane.
      oops! I can be stupid sometimes, lol!

      Comment


      • #4
        Looks good so far. Eagerly awaiting the second part.

        -Chris

        Comment


        • #5
          This part of the report is finished, I will be posting the report about the return segment shortly!

          Comment


          • #6
            I truly enjoy reading your TR's, especially regarding SWA.

            It is refreshing to hear my co workers and employees at WN still giving you guys a great time and flight even through the hard times. More then ever it sounds appropriate to use the slogan "Grab your bag-it's on!" I get my folks at my other work saying it now, just to get them revving and moving.

            That was an awesome thing the crew did, and I had never figured what it would look like when that happens. That had to be weird to hear near 137 chimes go off at once!

            It has been awhile since I have been at work with WN but I sure miss it and reading these reports make me anxious to return back ASAP!

            Thanks again for flying Southwest, we LUV your business and your money too!

            Alex
            Stop Searching. Start Traveling. southwest.com

            Comment


            • #7
              nice pic of california speedway! and awesome report

              yes i am a boeing fan, and i know thats a airbus, haha

              Comment


              • #8
                Jaspreet,

                Excellent report and very nice pictures. Glad to see that WN is still keeping up its high standards. Just one question, how did you get the Southwest rubber duck?

                Regards,

                Rohan

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rohank4284 View Post
                  Jaspreet,

                  Excellent report and very nice pictures. Glad to see that WN is still keeping up its high standards. Just one question, how did you get the Southwest rubber duck?

                  Regards,

                  Rohan
                  I got it from the Southwest lady at DECA nationals.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by ATrude777 View Post
                    I truly enjoy reading your TR's, especially regarding SWA.

                    It is refreshing to hear my co workers and employees at WN still giving you guys a great time and flight even through the hard times. More then ever it sounds appropriate to use the slogan "Grab your bag-it's on!" I get my folks at my other work saying it now, just to get them revving and moving.

                    That was an awesome thing the crew did, and I had never figured what it would look like when that happens. That had to be weird to hear near 137 chimes go off at once!

                    It has been awhile since I have been at work with WN but I sure miss it and reading these reports make me anxious to return back ASAP!

                    Thanks again for flying Southwest, we LUV your business and your money too!

                    Alex
                    lol

                    SWA is awesome, and I love flying with them! My past 4 trips have been with WN!

                    Seeing and hearing all the chimes go off at once was awesome! I love the sound they make, and I was really happy to hear it 137 times!

                    You are really lucky that you got a chance to work for Southwest! I hope to get an internship with them in college, and work for them after I am finished with college!

                    Thanks for your comment!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nice Trip Report!

                      I really liked the photo with the Southwest Duck .

                      BTW what camera are you using for your photo's?

                      Thanks Nehal

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by C-FMWQ View Post
                        Nice Trip Report!

                        I really liked the photo with the Southwest Duck .

                        BTW what camera are you using for your photo's?

                        Thanks Nehal
                        A Fujifilm Finepix S700. (it's also known as the S5700 outside of the US)

                        It's pretty good!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by jazzyspreetsingh View Post
                          A Fujifilm Finepix S700. (it's also known as the S5700 outside of the US)

                          It's pretty good!
                          Cool Thanks.

                          Nehal

                          Comment

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