Hi everyone!

My trip to San Diego with Midwest Airlines was a little different than usual for me. As I boarded the 717 in Kansas City to fly to San Diego I knew that the route was to be cut in about a months time. I have also since learned that the Madison to Kansas City route is being cut. I had never been in a situation where I was a passenger on one of a route's last flights. It is hard to imagine that none of the routes in this trip report will exist this time next year or even next month.

Here is a helpful list of airports mentioned in this trip report.

CMI - Champaign-Urbana, Illinois - University of Illinois Willard Airport
CWA - Wausau, Wisconsin - Central Wisconsin Airport
MCI - Kansas City, Missouri - Kansas City International Airport
MKE - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - General Mitchell International Airport
MSN - Madison, Wisconsin - Dane County Regional Airport
MSP - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
ORD - Chicago, Illinois - O'Hare International Airport
SAN - San Diego, California - San Diego International Airport

This trip report is long, so feel free to just look at the pictures. My dad had our family's camera with him so the first half of my trip report has no pictures.

Prologue:

I will start out my trip report by explaining that my dad was going to San Diego to attend the annual Esri Conference held there from August 2 through August 8. If my memory serves me right, this would be my dad's third time attending. This year my parents decided it would be fun if we turned my dad's travels into a vacation by having my mom and I fly out to San Diego midweek to join him. After all, my brother was going to be at the conference too. He was going to be there from August 2 to August 8. We would all be together in San Diego.

My brother flew American Eagle out of CMI and then connected to SAN with American via ORD. Too bad he is not an aviation enthusiast; he will never write a trip report . My dad flew Midwest Connect out of MSN and connected to SAN with Midwest Airlines via MCI. This is the exact same routing my mom and I would take, just a few days before us. He would fly back to Wisconsin with us.

My long adventure to San Diego actually started the evening before on August 5. My mom and I started the approximately two hour drive south from my hometown to Madison around 4:50 and got there around 7:30, but we stopped along the way for supper. We then checked in at our hotel: the Red Roof Inn Madison, which was simple but nice. We then drove 10 minutes to my Aunt's house in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. We visited with her and her husband (my Uncle) for about an hour before heading back to our hotel. I read the free newspaper for awhile before going to sleep around 10 P.M. Tomorrow was going to be very long because we were getting up at 3:30 A.M. the next morning to get to the airport on time.

Journey To the Airport:

We got all ready blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . and started to drive to the airport. We arrived at the airport around 5:15 A.M., an hour and a half before our 6:45 A.M. departure to MCI. We proceeded quickly through an almost empty check-in and security. We were sitting at our gate in time to see Northwest Airlines flight 246, an Airbus A320, leave for Detroit a few minutes late at 6:05 A.M. We also saw a Fedex 727 land and Midwest Connect flight 2870, a CRJ-200, leave to MKE. Before long, it was time for my mom and me to board our airplane.

Flight Number 1
Date: August 6, 2008
Route: MSN - MCI
Airline: Midwest Connect
Flight Number: 2690
Equipment: CRJ-200
Seat Number: 6A
Departure Time (Actual): 7:01 A.M. CDT
Arrival Time (Actual): 7:59 A.M. CDT
Flight Time: 0h 58m

I boarded ahead of my mom because I was going to sit in the window seat. I snuck a quick peek of the flight deck before heading to my seat. Upon reaching my seat I noticed for myself the number one complaint of the CRJ-200: the windows being too low. We watched the ramp crew finish up whatever they were doing and the flight attendant started the safety briefing. We were soon taxiing to the runway for takeoff. We departed off of Runway 36. I managed to catch a glimpse of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison before we started heading southwest. The takeoff was amazing; we blasted off the runway and climbed fast. However, the cabin was only about 1/3 full. I was astonished as I had heard the MSN-MCI route was one of Midwest Connect's biggest money makers. I can now understand why they are cutting the route. It was also the first time I had a flight out of a regional airport that wasn't completely full.

I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise that occurred during our flight. We were informed that the ground crew in Madison had not stocked the plane with beverages or snacks. No problem; I wasn't very hungry. They did have water though, which I took. I spent the rest of the flight enjoying the beautiful view out the window. There was a beautiful blue sky and if I leaned forward I could see the wing and winglet. As we approached Kansas City I noticed the CRJ's infamous, steep, nose down approach. It felt like we were diving into the runway. At the last moment the pilot pulled up to flare for landing. Nonetheless, the landing was pretty rough, but nothing to write home about. Landing was on Runway 19R.

Flight Number 2
Date: August 6, 2008
Route: MCI - SAN
Airline: Midwest Airlines
Flight Number: 532
Equipment: Boeing 717-200
Seat Number: 6D
Departure Time (Actual): 10:50 A.M. CDT
Arrival Time (Actual): 11:36 A.M. PDT
Flight Time: 2h 46m

I was highly impressed with the 717 as I boarded in MCI. After my standard sneak peek into the flight deck, I started to my seat and my first impression was that the cabin was bright and roomy. The cabin must have seemed roomy only because I had just flown on a CRJ; the 717 cabin is no widebody  . I found a big, high up window at my seat which was letting in lots of sunshine. This helped create the roomy and bright cabin I had noticed before. There was classical music playing in the background; what a luxurious touch! The seat itself was leather, just as it was on the CRJ from MSN. This 717, at the time of my flight, was filled front to back with Midwest's Signature Seating. This is what Midwest Airlines calls their seating when they put 2x2 seating in a cabin usually setup with 2x3. With a seat width of 21 inches, the Signature Seating has the same width as an Executive Class seat aboard Air Canada or a Premium Economy Class seat at bmi! I felt like I was flying in Business Class! I'm almost positive that takeoff was on 1L, but it may have been 1R.

I was more excited than usual about this flight because it was taking me to California. This trip was my first time there and I was also excited about seeing the Pacific Ocean.

I'm not afraid of flying, but there is one moment that always gets me. It's that moment shortly after takeoff when the pilot throttles back from takeoff thrust and you get those couple of seconds where you feel weightless. Ugh, I'm getting the willies just thinking about it.

Usually heights don't frighten me when I'm in an airplane, but I managed to make my toes tingle on this flight. I looked back at the wing and thought about how air flowing over it was creating lift. This lift alone was keeping the airplane in the air. There was nothing below me except my seat and some luggage.

After we got to cruising altitude, it was time to: eat Midwest's special baked on board cookies, enjoy the view, and doze on and off. I was trying to stay awake so I could see the Rocky Mountains, but I must have fallen asleep. After what seemed only an hour, it was time to begin our final decent. It took me by surprise that we were landing already. We either went supersonic or we landed in some city that just looks like San Diego. Just joking   ! Landing in the beautiful city of San Diego took place on Runway 27.

Flight Number 3
Date: August 10, 2008
Route: SAN - MCI
Airline: Midwest Airlines
Flight Number: 533
Equipment: Boeing 717-200
Seat Number: 5D
Departure Time (Actual): 12:41 P.M. PDT
Arrival Time (Actual): 5:31 P.M. CDT
Flight Time: 2h 50m


Another busy day at SAN. Check out the AC retrojet!


Midwest Airlines 717 sneaking into Gate 32. This plane took me back to MCI.

We had a spectacular departure out of San Diego, which was from Runway 27. We quickly climbed up and away and soon reached the coast. Along the coast were many resorts and beaches. I also saw a fishing pier that went pretty far out into the water. The plane kept proceeded out into the Pacific Ocean. When I looked forward out the window I could see only water. I thought about what it would be like if I were some business guy and the plane was a Singapore Airlines 777 or a Cathy Pacific 747 beginning its long journey to Singapore or Hong Kong. The plane turned to the left, or south, which surprised me. We must have gotten pretty close to overflying Mexican airspace. Does anybody know how this works? We then proceeded east to Kansas City.

Shortly after turning east we flew over the Salton Sea. I knew about the Great Salt Lake, but had never heard of the Salton Sea before. It was very beautiful as we flew over it.

I have been on many road trips before. When I'm out on the road I like to enjoy the scenery as it shoots past. The scenery is out there. When you're flying and up at altitude, it is odd to think of the scenery as being down there.


In flight, SAN-MCI.


The luxurious Signature Seating of Midwest Airlines.


Hmmm, cookies!

I had a really neat thought when I noticed the moon out my window. The moon orbits the Earth: even though it is technically wrong, one could think of being in flight as being in a very shallow orbit of Earth. It kind of feels like you're up there orbiting around the Earth, hanging out with the moon. We had another smooth landing on Runway 9.


Hanging out with the moon.


The "elusive" 717 revealed in MCI. She's on the left.

Flight Number 4
Date: August 10, 2008
Route: MCI - MSN
Airline: Midwest Connect
Flight Number: 2693
Equipment: CRJ-200
Seat Number: 4A
Departure Time (Actual): 7:11 P.M. CDT
Arrival Time (Actual): 8:12 P.M. CDT
Flight Time: 1h 1m

Our landing in Madison ranks as my second favorite of all time. My favorite was when I was flying AirTran into MSP and I had a view of the Minneapolis skyline all lit up at night as we were on final approach. This Madison landing happened at dusk. There was still light from the day to illuminate the trees and lakes, but the lights from the city sparkled below, which was very beautiful. We overflew Lake Monona on our final approach into Runway 36. There was a speed boat going along leaving a big wake behind it. The skyline of Madison could be seen and the magnificent Wisconsin State Capitol Building could be seen as well. This was the third time I had seen the Capitol Building in flight. I saw it once on a Midwest Connect Beech 1900 flight from CWA to MKE and on Flight 1 of this report. I could see all the headlights and taillights of the cars on their way to somewhere below. I could also make out the prominent East Washington Avenue.


After we pulled into the gate I spotted this great looking DC-9. I see I'm not the moon's only friend  .


Just after bringing me home to Wisconsin.

Conclusion:

I understand that Midwest Airlines has to do what they have to do to make things work out. It upset me when they dropped the Beech 1900's and Dornier 328 Jet's from their fleet. It upset me when they dropped many of their Wisconsin and Michigan EAS routes. Midwest Airlines was no longer the airline that I knew as Midwest Airlines. This trip has reconfirmed, however, that Midwest Airlines is still a special airline. The staff at all airports and in all airplanes was friendly. There were no delays and our bags made it to SAN and back. I still got the sense that Midwest Airlines was my local and hometown airline. I still found things that made Midwest Airlines different than any other airline I know. Cheers to Midwest Airlines and thanks for some unforgettable flights!

I hope you enjoyed reading my trip report and about my flights as much as I did writing it and flying them!

Take care!