Hello!
Welcome to this flight report dating way back in August 2016.
I took a huge trip to the great USA for 21 days, visiting New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
In this flight report I will take you back in time on 3 different flights! Mainly on my first time flying on Southwest Airlines but also showing you my sightseeing flight over the Grand Canyon and a few photos on my flight back home to London.
So sit back and enjoy this report.
We start off this trip in the departures area waiting for our flight, watching the action outside across the apron.
Many airlines/ aircrafts such as:
VIA Air ERJ-145
Jetblue A320
Air Canada Express CRJ-200
Two United B757-200's



I knew the flight would be at least 4 hours long so I decided to fuel up before boarding, got a yummy BLT Toastie.
Its quite rare to find airlines these days handing out the older boarding cards.


Soon enough it was time to board our aircraft.
Southwest Airlines don't have allocated seating, just first come and choose when onboard.
I was lucky enough to get a decent seat with a cracking wing view.



Didn't have to wait around for long, boarding was completed on time and pushed back for departure.
Rumbled down the runway and up into the sky passing over Elizabeth New Jersey.





Climbing up to cruising altitude we finally leveled out.
Not a lot happened the first 2 hours of the flight until we reached Chicago and strong winds caused severe turbulence.
Managed to get a cool photo of Midway Airport!


After leaving the states of Illinois and Missouri, State of Kansas came to sight with the spectacular views off circled crop fields.
Why are the fields circle?
Well….the water falls directly on the crops instead of being shot into the air as occurs with traditional sprinklers, less water is lost to evaporation and more goes to nourishing the growing plants. The red circles indicate irrigated crops of healthy vegetation.
The light-coloured circles represent harvested crops.


Flying over the state of Colorado I spotted a few aircrafts passing by.
USAF C-17 and Southwest B737-700.
Southwest offers free WIFI for passengers to access the latest flight location and time left to destination.




Now the fun begins, The breathtaking views off Utah and Nevada!










Out from nowhere the city border of Las Vegas appeared during our descent.
Heavy landing onto the runway at McCarran International Airport. This airport has since been renamed to Harry Reid International in 2021.



Whilst taxing to the gate we passed many interesting airlines and aircrafts.
United Airlines A319
Delta Airlines MD-88
Alaska Airlines B737-700







Parked at our gate which was located next to the airports old control tower.
This control tower was built in 1983 due to the higher passenger numbers and used until the new control tower was completed in 2016.
Soon after the new tower opening the demolition began on this old tower which was finished in 2017.

I waited until all the passengers left the aircraft and asked the crew if I could visit the cockpit.
All in all my first Southwest Airlines flight was a success.
The crew was friendly and they came around with drinks and snacks regularly, the cabin was kept well clean and spacious.


Soon as you step off the plane and into the arrivals hall, you can instantly realise your in Vegas. Slot machines everywhere!
We headed for the nearest car rental hire place and then drove to the strip.


The first full day I checked out the amazing Gemini Jets model store.
Its safe to say I wasn't disappointed! Left with tons of new models.





From there it was time to go plane spotting from the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign and on the highest car park at the airport.










Leaving the bright lights of Vegas behind it was time to head for the California coast and explore LA.








Spending amazing 6 days in LA I went back to Vegas by flying on Virgin America, I decided to book a scenic tour flight over the Grand Canyon.
The flight was onboard Grand Canyon Airlines DHC6-300 and the experience is certainly one I will never forget.










The last days left on my American adventure I spent it in New York City.
Visited the Intrepid war ship which is home to many war aircrafts and the beautiful British Airways Concorde!










Then headed back home to London on Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 overnight.
The 21 day trip around the US was the best experience I have ever done and can not wait to do it all again.
Southwest Airlines was exactly what i expected it to be, cheap no thrills but with the little extra's like food and drink service.
I would defiantly fly the airline again the next time I visit the USA.
Have you flown on Southwest? let me know your experience in the comments box.
Thank you for reading this short basic report, do check out my other 23 flight reports already uploaded on my page.
I have at least 20 more reports in the making and lots more flights coming up.
Until the next one….
Keep flying and Smiling :D


Hey Danny, thanks for sharing. Not much has changed on SWA in the time since this report except that there is now streaming IFE to mobile devices, which is a big improvement in the experience IMO.
Thanks for sharing!