Southwest Airlines - 1 stop, no plane change

[chuck29]

Hi all,

Just a quick question in regards to my flight. To get to my destination, it says it should take around 2.5 hours on the way back (nonstop); however, on the way there, it says it will take around 4.5 hours (1 stop in Atlanta, no plane change).

Does this mean that I'll be waiting on my plane to take back off again for 2 hours? Is there a chance that they just majorly overestimated the time of 2 hours, and I may only be waiting around 30 minutes instead? I heard SW Airlines doesn't like spending very long at the gate, as they like their turnaround times to be rather fast.

I was just a bit confused when I worked out the math and realized I'd be stuck at the Atlanta airport for around 2 hours when I wouldn't even be switching to a new plane.

Would appreciate any thoughts or input on this situation! Thanks.

 

[Saimaeve]

I've seen flights do that It gives you a chance to deplane, grab lunch and use the restroom and then re-board when boarding begins.

 

[PCFriar80]

Hi all,

Just a quick question in regards to my flight. To get to my destination, it says it should take around 2.5 hours on the way back (nonstop); however, on the way there, it says it will take around 4.5 hours (1 stop in Atlanta, no plane change).

Does this mean that I'll be waiting on my plane to take back off again for 2 hours? Is there a chance that they just majorly overestimated the time of 2 hours, and I may only be waiting around 30 minutes instead? I heard SW Airlines doesn't like spending very long at the gate, as they like their turnaround times to be rather fast.

I was just a bit confused when I worked out the math and realized I'd be stuck at the Atlanta airport for around 2 hours when I wouldn't even be switching to a new plane.

Would appreciate any thoughts or input on this situation! Thanks.

More than likely your layover will not be a full 2 hours. There are a few factors that should make it less. Flight durations are calculated as gate to gate, so in the case of your non-stop it's when you push back to when you actually arrive at your gate. Your non-stop flight plan will also be optimized from point to point. With the stop /layover in Atlanta, chances are it's off the direct path of your non-stop, so your first leg will include the actual gate to gate concept and any extra mileage from point A to Atlanta. Likewise you'll have a second gate to gate calculation from Atlanta to point B. Hope this makes sense.

The other thing you could do is simply check the individual segments of your 4.5 hour duration flight. As an example if flight 567 for XYZ airlines is flying from PVD - MCO with a stop in ATL, simply check flight 567 from PVD - ATL [departure and arrival] and then same flight number from ATL - MCO. The difference between the arrival time on segment one and the departure time on segment two will give you the actual layover.

 

[chuck29]

I've seen flights do that It gives you a chance to deplane, grab lunch and use the restroom and then re-board when boarding begins.

Ah, yeah, I guess it wouldn't surprise me. Not entirely sure what I'd do during that time, as I was hoping they just overestimated the layover, but to over estimate it by 1.5 hours seems like a stretch, so it's most likely correct.

 

[chuck29]

More than likely your layover will not be a full 2 hours. There are a few factors that should make it less. Flight durations are calculated as gate to gate, so in the case of your non-stop it's when you push back to when you actually arrive at your gate. Your non-stop flight plan will also be optimized from point to point. With the stop /layover in Atlanta, chances are it's off the direct path of your non-stop, so your first leg will include the actual gate to gate concept and any extra mileage from point A to Atlanta. Likewise you'll have a second gate to gate calculation from Atlanta to point B. Hope this makes sense.

The other thing you could do is simply check the individual segments of your 4.5 hour duration flight. As an example if flight 567 for XYZ airlines is flying from PVD - MCO with a stop in ATL, simply check flight 567 from PVD - ATL [departure and arrival] and then same flight number from ATL - MCO. The difference between the arrival time on segment one and the departure time on segment two will give you the actual layover.

Good advice!

Just checked, and it looks like the wait time they list is 50 minutes (arriving at 8:00, leaving at 8:50). Did not know they would've listed ETA for the two different take offs as the original e-mail I was sent just showed the leaving and arriving time, but on their website the tracker thing showed much more information.

Thanks guys for the help. Appreciate it a lot.

 

[nacho113]

Good advice!

Just checked, and it looks like the wait time they list is 50 minutes (arriving at 8:00, leaving at 8:50). Did not know they would've listed ETA for the two different take offs as the original e-mail I was sent just showed the leaving and arriving time, but on their website the tracker thing showed much more information.

Thanks guys for the help. Appreciate it a lot.

With only 50 minutes in Atlanta, it's possible that only the passengers that are changing to different flights may deplane. You may just stay aboard while they deplane and more passengers board your flight, the plane is refueled and restocked and then you would be on your way again. It has happened this way for us on a couple of occasions. If I recall, they announced this as we were starting our approach so only a couple of dozen people got up when we pulled up at the terminal (instead of the mad dash for the unopened door that usually happens)

 

[kldownunder]

Every time it have done this with SW, everyone who is continuing on must stay in their seats until the flight attendant gets an accurate count. Then they will let you change seats. I've never seen anyone get off the plane that is continuing. Everyone just used the lavatory on the plane.

 

[jayhawk74]

Another thing to remember is that a non-stop going in one direction will not have the same flight time as a non-stop coming back. For example a non-stop going from BDL or MHT to MCO will take 40 - 45 minutes longer than a non-stop going from MCO to BDL or MHT.

 

[georgina]

My DH got off the plane at a stopover and bought some food, so it is sometimes possible, but I wouldn't count on it.

My DD had a stop over recently that turned into a plane change after all. There were 44 of them on the flight heading back to college, luckily it was only one gate over and their luggage made the switch also!

Both of these were SW flights.

 

[DebbieB]

You didn't say where your flight starts but I used Pittsburgh to Orlando as an example.

PIT - MCO nonstop is 2 hours 20 minutes

PIT - MCO with a stop in Atlanta:
PIT-ATL is 2 hours 10 minutes
ATL-MCO is 1 hour 25 minutes

I used scheduled flight times, actual times might be less, they tend to pad the schedule.

So you add over an hour with separate flights. The plane slowing down to land, taxiing to the gate, taxiing back out, getting up to flight speed.