Review of Southwest Airlines flight from Kansas City to Washington in Economy

pre-flight/at the airport

It was time to head home after two great days of Airliners International, and I already felt energized and ready for next year in Atlanta. I wanted some extra time to explore the new MCI terminal, so I decided to get to the airport earlier than I needed to be. This new terminal opened in 2023 as a replacement for the old one, which was built in the 1970s with the idea that you could essentially drive to your gate. However, this design became obsolete almost immediately because of increased security requirements, so a lot of shuffling was required to get it up to compliance. That basically eliminated most amenities, and it caused TWA to move its main hub to St. Louis. Jeb Brooks on Youtube has a good video which discusses the history of the airport (he and his wife actually flew into the old terminal before it closed and departed from the new one on its opening day).  

I caught the shuttle from my hotel at about 3:05 and dropped my bag off about 10 minutes later. Southwest has a big operation at MCI so they had numerous kiosks to tag my bag, and since it wasn't super busy yet, security took less than 10 minutes (interestingly, MCI doesn't use TSA officers but rather a third-party company to do their screening. Same procedures as anywhere else in the States though). I had almost two hours until boarding, so I took a walk through the A-gates and noticed a couple tour buses next to one of the gates. After doing a quick search of FR24, I saw that a Sun Country flight was set to arrive from AUS, and a look at the Major League Soccer schedule found that Austin FC was set to play against Sporting Kansas City the following day. I sat down in the connector between the A and B-gates and watched the arrival of the plane. 

After I walked through the B-gates, I headed back to the A-gates to have one last hit of KC barbecue at Meat Mitch. I took a seat with a view of the ramp, of course, and I saw another soccer charter arrive–the US men's national team arriving for their game against Uruguay (which they would lose 1-0 to get eliminated in the group stage). A two-meat platter with two sides cost about $25, which I was somewhat expecting for an airport, but the food was very good and that combined with watching the activity on the ramp made it a good way to kill some time. I had already seen that my flight was slightly delayed due to a late departure from MCO, so I was in no hurry to eat, and I was savoring every bite. The shops at the airport have a very local feel to them, with even special BBQ sauces on sale, but the highlight for me was Ted Lasso and Kansas City Current stuff. Since I had spent a ton on airline collectibles at the show, however, I didn't buy any KC souvenirs and just settled on a Cinnabon roll to eat at the gate.

The south end of the MCI terminal–the budget airlines are here while the legacy airlines are at the north end (not dissimilar to how the gates are)

North pier of the A-gates

Connector between the A and B-gates–this airport definitely was designed to have as much natural light come in as possible (cough cough IAD terminal C/D)

One of the numerous KC-themed items for sale at MCI

This Sun Country 738 had just arrived from AUS as SY8701, a charter for MLS side Austin FC who had a game in KC the following day–it would fly a commercial service to MSP later that day

Burnt ends and pulled pork–not bad at all for airport BBQ

Those two buses are the US men's national soccer team, who were competing in the Copa América–they had flown in on a DL charter from ATL

This AS (ex-Horizon Air) E75L was about to depart for PDX

This AA A320 had just arrived from CLT

This NK A320 was boarding for MCO

Atrium of the B-gates–I'm a fan of the centralized retail area

View from my gate of WN and AA

Reading material for while I wait

Reading and looking out the window helped pass the time and in no time, our 737-800 arrived from MCO at gate B56. I was in no hurry to get on, however, as I didn't check in until after 10 the night before because I was caught up in Airliners International festivities and ended up with position B52. As I got lined up I could see through the glass jetway that boarding was moving along slowly, and began to worry that I'd be crammed into a middle seat. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got on and there were several rows in the back completely empty. I took a seat in 26A and just a couple minutes later, the flight attendant gave the magic words "Boarding completed." Virtually every flight I've ever been on has been a *completely full flight* so this was more than welcome. We ended up pushing back at around 6:42, and it was a pretty brief taxi. After waiting for a UA 737 to ORD and an AA 737 to take off (didn't catch where it was going), we took off about 6:52, 32 minutes behind schedule

N8561Z, a 6-year-old 737-800 would be my ride to DCA

#BoardingNotBoarding, pretty typical on WN

This was my lucky day

Plenty of legroom with my backpack under the middle seat

This UA 737 was headed to ORD

One last look at MCI

the flight

Once we got airborne, I got my iPad out and connected to the onboard wifi to be able to watch the live TV. It has fewer live channels compared to some of its counterparts, but the Olympic track and gymnastics trials were on, so I spent the flight flipping back and forth. Having tried AA's product at the end of April (albeit on their CRJ-700), WN's is very easy to use and works well with minimal interruptions. With the two other seats next to me unoccupied, I put my iPad on the middle seat tray table so I could have the room right in front of me. Poor man's first class. It was a pretty evening across the Midwest/Ohio Valley as we cruised right along. 

This also was the first time I had on one of WN's relatively new 737-800s, and interior-wise, they are so much more sleek than their 737-700 counterparts. I didn't find the slimmer seats any less comfortable (probably has a lot to do with being in an empty row though), and I'm always a fan of mood lighting. Overall it was very enjoyable, and before I knew it we were beginning our approach into DCA. We had made a big turn after Columbus to get onto the flight path for the northwestern approach into DCA, and although it was dark out, I could soon make out the major roads of northwest DC and the monuments. It felt like the landing speed was faster than usual when we hit the ground, but we came in at 9:52 after exactly two hours in the air. 

On the climb

Crossing the Mighty Mississippi near Hannibal, home of Mark Twain

Went with a cranberry juice, and the snack was a savory snack mix

Cabin shot as night began to fall

Clarksburg, WV

Winchester, VA

M Street in Georgetown

Foggy Bottom, with New York Ave NW as the street that's lit off in the distance

Lincoln Memorial in all its beauty

post-flight

When we pulled off the runway we stopped, and for a couple minutes, no explanation was given, but we were waiting for another plane to get off our gate, which was A5. Once we pulled in, it was another couple minutes while we in the back waited for everyone else to get off, and it was a fairly frantic scene in Terminal 1 with several flights arriving. 

That would also play out in the baggage claim area. Southwest has the two carousels across from the ticket counters, but there were bags from four other flights in addition to mine set to arrive on my carousel! I probably waited for about 40 minutes for my bag to come out after the STL and DAL bags, and I was seriously hoping that I would get lucky with Metro, since trains were not running at frequent headways at that time of the night. My bag came out at around 10:45, and I booked it from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, where the Metro stop is located, and it was very irritating to walk past the AC and F9 carousels, which were not being used while five flights were sharing one carousel in the WN area. It's about a 10-minute walk from Terminal 1 to the metro stop, but I did it in less than that and somehow made the train with 2 minutes to spare. I probably would have called an Uber if I had missed it and spent $40 or more.  

You can see the folks up ahead of us who had just come off another flight

Kind of a mini-museum between terminals 1 and 2–no time for me to check it out though! Worth checking out if you do have time to spare though.

Connector between terminals 1/2–with the main hall now being in the sterile area, they had to improvise to make this corridor stay landside.