WN ISP-MDW-OAK
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:59 pm
SWA1774
ISP-MDW
Boeing 737-700
We arrived at ISP about an hour before our scheduled departure of 8:50. It was a Thursday morning and completely dead - we had our bags checked and were through security in about 15 minutes. SWA's terminal at ISP is very nice and new. I stopped to get breakfast of yogurt and fruit. They have a few restaurants including A&W and an Irish Pub place which have seating next to large windows overlooking the tarmac. As we headed towards gate A8, many agents were setting up the gates for numerous morning departures. When we got to A8 we were met by the people on our flight spread out on the ground in line reading newspapers, working on laptops, eating breakfast, or even one guy taking a nap. We joined them in the A-line, and soon the aircaft arrived and boarding was announced. The front flight attendent was typical SWA, very cheery and tried to be funny (you'll hear him on the video below). There was a young girl who was on her first flight and he announced that to get a round of applause. Also made a typical joke about how they were glad to have her because her parents were the one's paying the bill which I thought might be pushing it a little. The other two female flight attendants - Jodie & Gina were older and quieter but very nice. We snatched the exit row and Jodie verified that I was over 15 and was able to be sitting in the exit rows. We soon pushed back and had a quick taxi to 33L and were in the air after doing a rolling takeoff (which I though was a little weird for such a short runway).
Pushback/Takeoff/Climbout/Cruise Video:
ISP-MDW.mov" target=_blank>http://idisk.mac.com/ethanstein/Public/ISP-MDW.mov
In-flight service consisted of orange juice and a blueberry breakfast bar which I thought was a nice touch for a morning flight (better then peanuts at 8AM). Very soon we were on approach into MDW and encountered some turbulence and did a crosswind landing onto 13C (right wheel touched down first) and a quick stop to make it into the ramp.
We were 15 minutes early and now had a good 1 1/2 hours to burn in MDW. We had some food at a restaurant (don't remember the name) and then proceeded to our gate. I will say MDW does like their 'people-mover' strips. We once again setup camp in the A-line and were the first one's on the plane after about 10 people in wheel chairs and once again grabbing the exit row seats.
SWA2242
MDW-OAK
Boeing 737-700 N711HK
Our aircraft, 711, had been named the 'Herbert D. Kelleher'. The flight was rather uneventful, flight attendents were nice but nothing too special. We touched down on runway 29 after a very nice approach over the bay and being on the left side of the plane, got a nice view of the SF skyline. OAK airport seems to be undergoing a lot of construction so I won't critique it now, I just hope it turns out to be nice when it's finished. Certain sections seemed finished and other's had no ceiling and the terminal seemed to be very hot although it was cool outside. After getting our bags, we went outside and had to pass through dirt and a construction zone to get to a rental car bus which then took about 15 minutes to get to the rental car facility. All the people were very nice, but the airport is just a mess with all the construction.
I enjoyed a weekend in San Francisco for a college visit at USF, and will post the return trip (OAK-SLC-BWI-ISP) tomorrow after I'm done editting the video.
[Edited 2006-11-26 05:01:16]
ISP-MDW
Boeing 737-700
We arrived at ISP about an hour before our scheduled departure of 8:50. It was a Thursday morning and completely dead - we had our bags checked and were through security in about 15 minutes. SWA's terminal at ISP is very nice and new. I stopped to get breakfast of yogurt and fruit. They have a few restaurants including A&W and an Irish Pub place which have seating next to large windows overlooking the tarmac. As we headed towards gate A8, many agents were setting up the gates for numerous morning departures. When we got to A8 we were met by the people on our flight spread out on the ground in line reading newspapers, working on laptops, eating breakfast, or even one guy taking a nap. We joined them in the A-line, and soon the aircaft arrived and boarding was announced. The front flight attendent was typical SWA, very cheery and tried to be funny (you'll hear him on the video below). There was a young girl who was on her first flight and he announced that to get a round of applause. Also made a typical joke about how they were glad to have her because her parents were the one's paying the bill which I thought might be pushing it a little. The other two female flight attendants - Jodie & Gina were older and quieter but very nice. We snatched the exit row and Jodie verified that I was over 15 and was able to be sitting in the exit rows. We soon pushed back and had a quick taxi to 33L and were in the air after doing a rolling takeoff (which I though was a little weird for such a short runway).
Pushback/Takeoff/Climbout/Cruise Video:
ISP-MDW.mov" target=_blank>http://idisk.mac.com/ethanstein/Public/ISP-MDW.mov
In-flight service consisted of orange juice and a blueberry breakfast bar which I thought was a nice touch for a morning flight (better then peanuts at 8AM). Very soon we were on approach into MDW and encountered some turbulence and did a crosswind landing onto 13C (right wheel touched down first) and a quick stop to make it into the ramp.
We were 15 minutes early and now had a good 1 1/2 hours to burn in MDW. We had some food at a restaurant (don't remember the name) and then proceeded to our gate. I will say MDW does like their 'people-mover' strips. We once again setup camp in the A-line and were the first one's on the plane after about 10 people in wheel chairs and once again grabbing the exit row seats.
SWA2242
MDW-OAK
Boeing 737-700 N711HK
Our aircraft, 711, had been named the 'Herbert D. Kelleher'. The flight was rather uneventful, flight attendents were nice but nothing too special. We touched down on runway 29 after a very nice approach over the bay and being on the left side of the plane, got a nice view of the SF skyline. OAK airport seems to be undergoing a lot of construction so I won't critique it now, I just hope it turns out to be nice when it's finished. Certain sections seemed finished and other's had no ceiling and the terminal seemed to be very hot although it was cool outside. After getting our bags, we went outside and had to pass through dirt and a construction zone to get to a rental car bus which then took about 15 minutes to get to the rental car facility. All the people were very nice, but the airport is just a mess with all the construction.
I enjoyed a weekend in San Francisco for a college visit at USF, and will post the return trip (OAK-SLC-BWI-ISP) tomorrow after I'm done editting the video.
[Edited 2006-11-26 05:01:16]