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Delta to Florida and Back

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  • Delta to Florida and Back

    March 17
    Wichita Mid-Continent Airport
    -------
    The check-in line went surprisingly quick. Delta and AirTran had some long lines probably full of Spring Breakers. I grabbed a bite to eat at the food court which consists of a few fast food places and I went down to the concourse. This was the first time I've gone through security with TSA agents and didn't notice much difference. Lines for security were quick. I went down to Gate 11 and had a seat. The gate areas were packed for Delta and the AirTran gate across the hall with people sitting on the floor and along the hall.

    Delta Connection 4736 Operated by ASA
    ICT-ATL
    CRJ
    -------
    Delta Connection boards out on the ramp in ICT which was kinda cool. The interior seemed a bit old with cloth seats that looked worn. They were a bit uncomfortable at first but I got used to it. We pulled out of the gate and began our taxi on time but we held short of the runway for about eight minutes due to some air traffic problems in Atlanta. A 717 bound for Atlanta, N945AT waited behind us. Our takeoff took us over rural south Wichita and over the huge DeBruce grain elevator. After that, it was just a pleasant and uneventful flight. Service consisted of a couple of Biscoff cookies, pretzels, and something to drink. Our descent took us through the low cloud ceiling over Atlanta and we shortly landed after breaking through the clouds in a rainy Atlanta.

    Atlanta Hartsfield Airport
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    We entered a cold and damp Concourse C. Since all the ASA flights board and deplane on the ramp, the cold outside air got into the concourse and the floor was getting wet and muddy. The tram was temporarily down so we walked over to Concourse B where our flight to RSW would leave in a couple of hours. We killed most of that time eating at the Chili's Too there which if I remember correctly was in Concourse A. After that, we headed back to Gate B01 after a long walk down the B Concourse from the tram stop.

    Delta 2123
    ATL-RSW
    Boeing 767-300
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    After taking off, we immediately passed over the low clouds over Atlanta and broke through a few more cloud layers. Absolutely no service on this flight. I rarely saw a FA pass through the coach cabin throughout the flight. The flight took a little over an hour and there was some light turbulence throughout the flight. The sun set as we began a descent. As we descended, I could see the lights of Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Sanibel Island, and North Fort Myers as we passed over. There were some storm clouds far off in the distance flickering light with occasional lightning. We turned over Fort Myers and landed at Southwest Florida International.

    Southwest Florida Int'l Airport/Ft. Myers
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    We got off at the end of a shorter concourse at the end of the airport, I believe it was Gate B9. We took a walk down the concourse which was a little plain. The airport was very clean, though. After passing the security checkpoint, there were many meeters and greeters. Nearly all of them were elderly folks. An escalator took us down to the baggage claim which was a mess. Our flight didn't show up on the info boards until about 10 minutes. As usual, our bags are among the last on the belt.

    Southwest Florida Int'l Airport/Ft. Myers
    March 21
    -------
    Check-in for our flight to Orlando was a little sluggish but we eventually got there. We headed upstairs and got something to drink at the Starbucks there. After that, I looked around the 2nd floor of the terminal area which consisted of fast-food places and a few stores and a Chili's Too in the middle. Our flight was leaving B9 with a Frontier A319 boarding next to it. Boarding was on the ramp through stairs at the end of the jetway. Flight left on time at 9:15.

    Delta Connection 5892 Operated by Comair
    RSW-MCO
    CRJ
    -------
    This short flight went uneventful with a flying time of a little under 30 minutes. Some light turbulence was present thoughout the flight and with the exception of some peppermints offered as we began our initial approach there was no service due to "turbulence and the short flight". I declined the mint as I watched the approach into Orlando.

    Orlando International Airport Airside 4
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    We were the sole CRJ in the old '97 livery surrounded by Embraers in the new livery at the Delta Connection part of the airside, gates 60A-60M. Escalators took us up into the airside next to the tram station. This was a very nice airside with high ceilings and plenty of windows. One of my favorite airports now. After having a break and watching some planes pass by, I headed for gate 71 where our MD-11, N814DE in the classic Delta livery waited.

    Delta 1968
    MCO-ATL
    MD-11
    -------
    Our trip was going just well until this flight. I had a seat at row 37 which had a lot of extra legroom. The seats were comfortable and the cabin of this MD-11 looked nice. This was a pretty big jet, especially for a short run like this 1 hour flight. We pushed back from the gate on time and as we taxied things started going wrong. We stopped for a while and the captain announced that they're slowing departures out of MCO due to weather. We're behind a few planes for takeoff and it'll be a few minutes before takeoff. okay. Minutes later, I heard the engines shut down. The Captain announces that nobody's taking off from MCO due to weather for a while. After several minutes, we are told that we aren't going anywhere fast so Horizons video programs were shown and water was served. This continued for about an hour and a half. I was really thankful for my seat with all of its legroom. Then I hear the engines start up and the captain announces that flights are now able to depart and to quickly prepare to takeoff. We quickly took off with the MD-11s three engines with its powerful roar took off. After a really bumpy ascent beverages and a pack of pretzels were served and I kept a nervous look at the time as we were delayed by a little less than an hour and a half. Our layover in Atlanta was an hour and a half. Descent began soon as the engines were powering down and up on final with the throttle power constantly changing it seems. We had a rough landing and then we taxied to the other side of the airport which would not help my connection.

    Atlanta Hartsfield Airport
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    After getting off the plane, we quickly went straight for the tram at the International Concourse E. No time to look at this nice terminal as we had 5 minutes to get to the end of the C Concourse at C33. Upon arriving at C33, the flight to Wichita left 3 minutes before. So we headed straight for ASA's Service Counter. After waiting in line for a long time, we got to the counter. I noticed that a few groups of people in line were also going to Wichita with the same problem. Turns out all flights to Wichita are booked solid until Tuesday. We couldn't be booked onto AirTran for the same reason. We were sent to mainline Delta's counter in B Concourse which was much more help. The guy at the counter worked for a while trying to find an alternative to staying in Atlanta for a while. There were no flights to Kansas City or Oklahoma City but we could try our luck at a Tulsa flight leaving in an hour. We got $30 worth of vouchers for my family of three people and we used it on Chinese food in the B concourse. I wanted to try Chik fil-A but they were at A. After that, we went to gate B09 to see that we were on the cleared list.

    Delta 245
    ATL-TUL
    737-800
    --------
    I got onboard this 737-800 and noticed it didn't have those comfortable seats with the nice headrests. they seemed kinda narrow for some reason. I took my standby seat at row 30 if I remember correctly. I had the window seat at least. We taxied next to the Delta hangars and waited on a few planes to takeoff. The 737 had a powerful and loud takeoff as we ascended. Headphones were handed out for the horizons programming being shown soon after that. Beverages as well as Delta's snack mix was served. The snack mix was surpisingly good. Besides that, it was uneventful through to our approach. We had a rough landing at Tulsa.

    Tulsa International Airport
    -------
    After deplaning, we followed the concourse down to the terminal where the baggage claim was. Our bags didn't show up. After talking to Delta's baggage service we assumed that our bags were on the next flight to Wichita which arrives in Wichita at midnight. We went down to get our rental car. We paid for a small car so I expected we'd end up with one of the Aerios on the lot but my dad's Emerald Club status got us an upgrade into a Maxima which was much better. After that, we went on the drive back to Wichita.

  • #2
    How long is the drive from Tulsa to Wichita?


    Very good story!! I love hearing Delta and Southwest Flights. I would kill to fly on an MD-11. Oh well...me flying on Southwest Airlines from STL-MCO in June so when that comes I will let you all know how it goes.

    Alex.




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    • #3
      Thanks for the comments. The drive from Tulsa to Wichita took around 3 hours I think. I wasn't really keeping track, my dad did the driving and I drifted off sometime during the drive for a while. Looking forward to hearing your trip report. I do some flying on Southwest as well and I may be going to Nashville from Kansas City sometime this summer. It's usually been a pleasure flying with Southwest.

      Comment


      • #4
        Nice trip report, thank you. It gives the impression that security is no longer an issue at US airports, or am I wrong? I still remember the huge queues right after 9/11. Also have the times you have to be at the airport before a flight been reduced to more normal again?

        Regards,
        Peter

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        • #5
          Since Wichita and Fort Myers are relatively smaller airports, I can't really say if long lines for security isn't an issue. I'm sure that major airports probably encounter long and slow lines.
          The rule of thumb around here is to show up at the terminal at least two hours before departure. We left pretty early since we were hearing that there was some really nasty traffic to Fort Myers Airport and we left kinda early for Wichita since I encountered some really slow lines for check-in and security last time I used the airport (I took that trip last summer).

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