Surviving Air Travel

BWI Terminal C
Baltimore, MD
November 28, 2023

 We came, we saw, we made it home. 

It was not very bad for a post holiday travel. The airport was not empty, but it was not crowded either. The jet owe flew home was full--but then they are always full it seems. 

The Southwest desk was pleasantly empty, but processing for the flight still took a lot of time because we travel with a service animal. Thankfully, we arrived early for our flight.

It was cold in Baltimore as we departed and we looked forward to warm South Florida temperatures. It was in the 70s when we arrived at West Palm Beach. Yay. And palm trees!

I do have some feedback for Southwest, however. Loading and unloading the passengers on the aircraft has become a nightmare. There are multitudes of wheel chair and pre-board passengers. The problem is that they are slow, which is why they need pre boarding--but then they sit in the very front of the aircraft. That makes getting out of the plane an equally slow process. Perhaps the wheelchair and pre-board passengers could be seated in the rear of the aircraft. I know it seems harsh, but putting the them in the rear would allow for boarding of other passengers while they are getting seated. There are also two restrooms at the rear--a convenience issue for many. Having them in the rear would allow for faster unloading of passengers and then allow the wheelchair passengers to receive debarkation assistance without slowing the entire process. 

One other comment from yesterday's flight. The captain had the seatbelt sign on for nearly the entire flight and at least the last 1h30m. The captain and first officer were both able to use the restroom facility--but passengers were not supposed to leave their seats to do likewise. Maybe a bit more consideration for the self-loading cargo.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL