DON'T FLY SOUTHWEST AIRLINES to O'Hare (unless you have to)

[@mrAhollandjr]

Unlike the other airlines and terminals, Terminal 5 gates are "Common Use" gates, meaning first come, first serve. Also international airliners generally clog the Terminal between noon and 5pm. Thats why its so bad for Southwest. Consider that ALL international flights except prevlesrrance Air Canada flights arrive at Terminal 5. Even the United and American Airlines international flights. While their international flights depart from the domestic terminals, not so for international arrivals. To complicate matters, when the Terminal 5 expansion is complete. Delta is slated to move from Terminal 2 to Terminal 5. It's expected that they will maintain slotted space. We will see what happens when the satellite concourses are built . Once they open, Terminal 2 will be demolished and rebuilt as a United and American ( and their alliance partners) international terminal. Deltas move to Terminal 5 aligns them with their alliance partner AIR France and KLM.

[@KTHR56]

Could help Southwest once AA and UA are running international at T2 since they won’t be arriving into T5 - but that will take time.

[@GOLDVIOLINbowofdeath]

Know the real reason it’s so “bad” for Southwest is because they don’t have to pay the pilots why they’re taxiing, it’s that simple. It’s a problem of their own making it was their choice, They are not a victim

[@stupidman911]

As an FYI Delta has already moved to T5 as of Oct 12th, they have the west side of the concorse and they handle themselve regarding gates but the T5 tower controls the ramp Space still. For the rest of T5 while it is Common use and the idea of it being first come first serve is not compelty correct. We still gate out the day with a schedule and we do that a week ahead of the current week. The only real time it is "first come first serve" is when theres majory weather events or issues resulting in major delays for mutiliply airlines and multiply planes are waiting for a gate. With that in mind AIR France and KLM are not gurantee to be gated near Delta, they are gated to where best suites the day for the most smooth operation possible.

[@mrAhollandjr]

@@stupidman911 thanks. How many gates does Delta operate? U assume they gave at least M1 through M5. Naybe more?

[@stupidman911]

@@mrAhollandjr Oh they have M2-M11, M1 is reserved for EAS which is not under Delta. One of the gates still MIA untill the bagbarn os removed and the jetway is added in.

[@RLTtizME]

Your observations really apply to all of O'Hare in general. If you like delays on any airline...O'Hare is always your best choice. I used to fly Southwest out of Midway and a colleague preferred to go out of O'Hare on an another airline. Same destination and departure times....and I would always end up waiting for him at the other end. O'Hare is congested, taxi times are LONG....and ground delays to take off are also long.

[@darrek]

My experience flying Southwest into terminal 5 was much worse than the dozens of flights I've taken over the years from terminals 1 and 3. Terminal 5 is a unique form a torture and since I live in Chicago I get to help pay for the privilege.

[@johnuhtof8952]

While southwest has room for improvement their staff really goes above and behind to try and help

[@Westlander857]

I flew Southwest round trip from Phoenix to O’Hare in August. I was fortunate to not have any issues, but the situation at Terminal 5 is a total mess. Long lines, not enough space and the walk to the baggage carousel is wild. I’m sure when renovations are finished sometime next year, it’ll be way better, but maybe Southwest should have waited until then.

[@jacksoxman9000]

Well it's 7mo from your comment. Still sucks at Term 5.

[@alanzemsky7695]

Great video! So sorry you had to endure such long information on the ground when you land. Must have been very frustrating- now you helped us flyers to best decide where to fly southwest from Chicago

[@peoriavideosltd6822]

I'm fortunate to live in the west suburbs so Midway and O'Hare are pretty much equidistant for me, but I vastly prefer Midway over O'Hare in just about every category I can think of. O'Hare just sucks! Whether travelling in or out or just picking someone up, Midway is faster to get in and out of and if there is traffic there are lots of surface streets to get there on. Planes land at Midway, and then they're at the gate in just seconds; none of that taxiing for 40 minutes after landing nonsense like at O'Hare. And finally at long last, the new security area at MDW has opened and the bad old days of lines all the way out to the CTA terminal are over.

[@kentfrederick8929]

A. I have sat on American flights, waiting for a gate to open at ORD. Friends of mine have done the same on United. If a few flights are delayed departing ORD, and inbound flights arrive early, it can cause planes sitting in the penalty box. B. It used to be common for a flight to be multi-segment, before hub and spoke became the norm. Hughes Air West operated one flight that started at LAX and flew to LAS, SLC, TWF, BOI, GEG, and SEA.

[@darrek]

Great report. I was so excited that Southwest had started flying to O'Hare since Midway is not convenient at all for me. Unfortunately I'd already bought my ticket when I watched your trip report. I thought since your flight was two months ago things may have improved but unfortunately it's still an awful experience. The price to BWI was lower than American or United so I had been thrilled about being able to take advantage of flying SWA out of O'Hare. Well, it certainly wasn't worth the money I saved by flying SWA rather than UAL or AA. The new terminal is a complete s**t show. The distance from check-in to the gate is quite long without any moving sidewalks. The only concession anywhere near my gate was a small kiosk selling snacks and drinks. No charging stations or outlets near the gate in brand new terminal! On top of all that, the loudspeakers are so loud I had to pause my phone call every time there was an announcement. Coming back, while I didn't have the long wait for a gate on my return like you did, we did have to park for 10 or 15 minutes while we waited for a gate to open. Then baggage claim is a complete nightmare. You have to pass through the chaotic international arrivals area to get to it. Worse there is ZERO signage directing you to the baggage carrousels. I had to track down a guard to ask her where it was. Then we had to wait a good 10 minutes on the bags to arrive even after a very long walk from the gate. I flew in on a Saturday evening. I can't imagine how much worse the experience would have been on busy summer weekday or god forbid Thanksgiving weekend. I thought that terminals 1 and 3 were awful but they are shining beacons of efficiency and convenience compared to the new terminal 5. What a crushing disappointment. I'll never fly any domestic flights from there again. I can't believe I'm saying this but you'll probably get a better experience flying out of O'Hare on American or United over Southwest or Delta. Never thought I'd say that!

[@dboutier5636]

After you get through security you are at gate seven. My Southwest flight left from gate 35. All the gates are on one side so that was 28 gates I had to walk. Also included shops etc. It took me about 25 minutes as I have a bum knee. Glad I had plenty of time. It is beautiful the planning a little exercise

[@gabrielle-AV-n-PFloyd]

I have no idea how I came across this but it was damn interesting to watch

[@tadeuszlufik]

Good video. SWA is great. Terminal 5 is a work in progress and O'Hare is always busy - the experience reflects that and it isnt just SWA. Midway is so much nicer and tbh *if* it was *only* 30 minutes from ORD to MDW area, Id be going to MDW without a blink - but its much more of a pain to get to MDW from anywhere near or north of ORD.

[@paulgundrum7419]

I love your video and caption descriptions of each plane. Beautiful job! But what is that smartphone app you are using showing the taxiing aircraft? I want that!

[@KN_1]

What's the app you use at 14:40? New to the channel, so apologies if this was addressed in another video.

[@TheLewistownTrainspotter8102]

15:00 Once ORD21 is complete, I imagine that these sorts of waits won't be as common.

[@Jraptorblue8465]

On Feb 14, that was almost next to my birthday on Feb 13.

[@DCinchi]

Great report. I recently took Air France from T5 at O'Hare and felt bad for the SW pax who had to pass through the packed security lines. Not fun. Does anyone know if Delta Airlines has a dedicated set of security lines in T5?

[@mattman6461]

And to make things worse, DL moved into terminal 5 today. Crazy.

[@ASAviation]

Exactly...what brilliant timing. Although Delta actually has gate spaces that they leased. Southwest does not.

[@jvalley8897]

I love flying Southwest and have ever since my children were small. We were kind of forced into it a while back when they absorbed AirTran and our main carrier here in MKE became SWA almost overnight. Most of my flights end in BWI, Orlando/Tampa, SF, or LA areas so they are convenient. I only fly 3-4 round trips with them a year, but I do not think I've ever even been late, let alone had a bad flight. However, I'm preparing to look at SWA through a fresh lens. In 2 days I'll be flying SWA to LGA out of ORD for the first time. We don't have great inexpensive access in MKE to the New England airports other than getti g lucky with a regional (something I thought would get fixed with Jetblue and Spirit moving in this year but i haven't seen it yet) so it's generally cheaper and more convenient to go down to ORD when flying to NYC or BOS. I got a good price on SWA so why the heck not try it out. Plus I wanted to see the Terminal 5 renovation anyway. Both leaving and returning are scheduled before noon so here's hoping everything goes smoothly in the early am...but this video is making me a bit nervous!

[@benjaminmendenhall3104]

I been to both ORD and MDW and the airport that I like more is MDW and it is easier airport to get around in then ORD

[@rtw67intx]

I fly Southwest a lot and have been into O’Hare twice on them. It was early on when they started service so we had no issues getting a gate. The experience inside the terminal was awful… long lines to security, construction, long walk to baggage claim, and the gate which was not designed for boarding passengers… very few seats and barely any place to even stand.

[@Sassycat757]

I flew on United to O'Hare (direct flight from VA to Chicago) no problems. But my friend was flying on SWA to O'Hare from Vegas. SWA uses Terminal 5 OMG! I felt sorry for her. But I love SWA in all honesty. Just flew from VA to Miami and we had a good time on that flight.

[@markscardsreviewspredictions22]

Where I work in St. Charles Illinois we are on the flight path. On a clear day with no clouds you can tell which airline it is.

[@airriongalloway6998]

This happened to me at Midway, I flew from NOLA to Chicago once at Midway my lay over was 2 and a half hours. This pushed my 3:00 pm arrival in Portland Oregon from 5:00 pm pacific time talk about wait time never again. There was suppose to be 30 min layover at best. Thanks southwest for helping me choose Delta when flying to Chicago.

[@smaze1782]

Excellent video, man. Got fed up with SW years ago with their weird and annoying boarding process plus they are partly responsible for the two 737 Max crashes.

[@CitrusAviation]

This is certainly not an ideal situation. I was really enlightened by this video and enjoyed it.

[@chitown1098]

You are insanely patient, sooooo much more than I would have been. Obviously Southwest puts dollars ahead of customers. I use to fly AirTran whenever I could. Then it was bought by Southwest and that ended. I could select my own seat on AirTran, upgrade to Business Class for a nominal fee and I personally was fortunate to never experience the problems you did on Southwest. Seems the airline continues to live up to the stories shown on the old show Airline. Enjoyed your vid.

[@kolyan70]

I was also an AirTran passenger, but Southwest service out of Midway is good! I have never flown Southwest out of O’Hare and don’t plan to. I live roughly in-between ORD and MDW so MDW is just fine for me.

[@tillyboos]

I used to fly Southwest back and forth to Chicago into MDW (non-stop) from California, and I tell you this: I NEVER had a delay on the Chicago end. The CA end was another story, because whether it was San Francisco (SFO) or Oakland (OAK) I was departing from, there was ALWAYS some kind of delay. I like Southwest, it's a decent airline, BUT, when Virgin America (back before Alaska Airlines took them over) started flying into ORD from SFO, I started flying them regularly instead. I was a VERY devoted VA flyer, because overall, it was the BEST domestic airline product we had at the time (I thought so anyway), even more so than Southwest. The downside though, was dealing with O'Hare instead of Midway. I was now flying a MUCH better airline, but it was into a MUCH worse airport. And, VA only had ONE gate at O'Hare (in Terminal 3, Concourse L), so we'd often have to wait on the tarmac until another flight (usually the departing VA flight for LAX) had left the gate. 🙄 Comparatively speaking, dealing with Midway was HIGHLY preferential to dealing with O'Hare. Now I was dealing with delays on BOTH ends (Bay Area & Chicago) the majority of the time, and the ORD delays were just horrendous. MDW is just much better in a number of ways than ORD is, it's closer to the city, it's much smaller, and MUCH LESS congested, so even though I preferred flying on Vrigin America, I STILL went back to flying Southwest into MDW.

[@brucecook1156]

Great video, but I actually like that Southwest has finally gotten into O’Hare. I love seeing the airlines expand and since I prefer ORD over MDW (I am only 1 hr from Chicago) I am actually quite happy for Southwest to finally exist here. Just like I can’t wait to see what the JetBlue-Spirit merger will allow!

[@marcuswaterbury7371]

right midway is good they just need better restaurants

[@ASAviation]

I agree with that 100%, the only issue was when they actually started flying from ORD. They just chose a wrong time to fly here.

[@brucecook1156]

@@ASAviation Yeah, it is bad timing. Very few gates to uphold so many routes. They shouldn't have people waiting on the plane for an hour. At least a good experience with the airline and in the air itself!

[@alanzemsky7695]

@@marcuswaterbury7371 totally agree! They used to be good- really miss potbelly’s

[@darrek]

I'll bet you won't be so happy once you try actually it. 🙂 If you have to fly Southwest I'd recommend taking the extra travel time to get to Midway. You may save time overall. It's really that awful.

[@brownalec602]

Southwest in Boston used to depart from there international terminal, probably this will be moved too.

[@charliezard7997]

sounded like a hard landing

[@Stufftowatch21]

It’s not 30 minute drive from ORD to MDW , there’s always lots of traffic on 294

[@ASAviation]

30 minutes excluding traffic haha. Very true.

[@matthewstevens6408]

You must not be from Chicago lol it’s definitely 30 mins Chicago driving haha

[@Tker1970]

Similar for SWA at CLT. Im based at BWI, so fly SWA often, but the gates at CLT for SW are SO far away, I use AA.

[@jimmysalgadojr5087]

I'm a Ramp agent for southwest at O'Hare. Any questions, just ask. But from watching this video and actually working for them, I see that you REALLY don't know what the issues are. I can help you out with that so you can really understand what's the problem. It isn't a southwest problem btw. But like I said before, any questions just ask. Thankyou for flying with us tho.

[@danburnette7674]

As a former longtime Employee of Southwest i can came to learn a long long time ago that in Network Planning for Southwest they factor everything in a perfect world scenario. No such things as Weather Delays, Maintenance Issues & Delays, Flights just do not show up early or late, etc. One Speed Bump and your'e off to the races. A Total Hot Mess . I'm happy that they are at ORD as most folks are but i just do not see any downsizing in the cards. With the 4 gates they now have i can eventually see Southwest go up to 40 to 50 flights per day and it will all be in a Perfect World Scenario for The Beancounters & Decision Makers @ The Glass Palace in Dallas AKA Southwest Headquarters.

[@baileyostrom2972]

0:51 I think you should’ve pointed out that Dallas Love Field is not only the secondary airport, but is also the home base of Southwest. I really don’t like big airports, so I think I would choose Midway over O’ Hare.

[@jasonthomas9364]

Just flew on Southwest yesterday out of ORD and it was fine, plus on time

[@bradymartin5730]

The single worst Southwest experience I ever had was flying into O'hare with them. The baggage claim situation in particular was awful.

[@tadeuszlufik]

Agreed. Its a maze getting your bags. Huge SWA fan but I cant imagine anyone being less than frustrated picking up checked baggage at ORD.

[@natsthesweetone]

I so agree!

[@bradymartin5730]

@@Tayyyyyyylore JetBlue isn't really an option for those of us on the west coast.

[@christopherbranski1720]

I use T5 a couple times a year coming into/going to MEX, and the most disappointing thing is that after spending tens of millions of dollars the experience still kind of blows

[@jasonmoors1191]

If nothing else,you got a good view of a BA 380! It would seem logical that if one of the int'l airlines' gate is empty for some hours, Southwest could quickly pop in and out rather than wait for a company gate--with your inbound flight arriving early but lack of an open gate and block time being an hour late, no telling how tardy the outbound flight was! Your referencing 'through' flights--I have uploaded on my channel a SWA itinerary TUS-LAS-IAH this past June, the landing at IAH still needs to be uploaded--nowhere near the ground chaos you experienced--seriously considering the Chicago Auto Show next February--a mere overnight journey from Houston and back and if SWA is considered, I WILL fly to MDW! Looking forward to your Amtrak trip home--where did you overnight?

[@ASAviation]

Thanks for the comment and definitely agree. I was traveling with one of my friends so we were able to overnight at one of his relatives' places.

[@mrdoge3001]

Frist time going to Orlando form o'hare we just when to midway after.

[@antoniorobinson5891]

First time ever flying a few months ago from BWI to MID. Smooth trip, pretty cool. From MID back to BWI!?! Interesting to say the least. Got to airport at 4:30...got through checkpoint at 4:45. Flight was supposed to board at 5:30...leave a like 6:15. There was a storm in the way so we didn't get on the plane until 6:45 and didn't takeoff until 12:30 am... horrible experience traveling back. But I actually heard that O'Hare is the forbidden airport lol...like taboo...stay away. At least that's what I heard. I was told that MID is less hassle.

[@darrenjohnson4420]

I flew Southwest in 2000 from Manchester New Hampshire to Houston Hobby on the same plane(737-300 i think) with stops in Nashville, Birmingham, and New Orleans before we got to Houston that was a long day

[@PeteCarma]

BTW the drive from Ohare to Midway ...30 mins? if you go middle of the night....otherwise can be over an hour, easily..

[@DrLaFuria]

What was the app on your phone showing all the runways and planes.

[@ASAviation]

Flightradar24

[@DrLaFuria]

@@ASAviation tks. I'm a plane nut.

[@scottsomer4150]

Yes depending on which runway the tower assigns them can give them (Southwest) a very LONG taxi

[@mikewolfe3845]

I flew the same exact route and I had no problems none whatsoever

[@t10391]

If the intl gate wasn’t being used until the evening. Why didn’t southwest use that gate space for a majority of the day?

[@DreamlinerFan2016]

Great trip report! Although Southwest’s presence at O’Hare maybe not as what they have hoped for, they still do a fantastic job in terms of their customers service.

[@ASAviation]

Thank you, and definitely agreed.

[@ericwright1840]

You should do a comparison flight from DAL airport to MDW airport next time.Leaving roughly about the same time.See which one is better.

[@AR1xRUSHY]

Since I fly for work constantly SW is the main choice. I’m 6ft6 and always go for leg room at the emergency exits. Currently A List but hopefully to get A List Preferred by the end of the year. Price wise I would say SW and United all the way. Also I love how I get easily recognized at Airports now since how often I fly out of certain airports across the US.

[@tstahler5420]

I'm not sure what the bigger "Don't" is? Flying SW or going to Chicago?

[@makaylastiess]

I recently flew into o’hare and had no problem once we landed we landed at 2pm on a Monday however the actually airport was chaos

[@UrPilotNatt]

Ive flown in and out of O'Hare with Southwest, haven't had any issues! It was quite great actually

[@konrads5281]

I love that Southwest is at Ohare!! The drive from northwest suburbs to MDW was always a pain and I hated asking family to drive me there. Yes it is a challenge with gates at T5, but there are always struggles when an airline starts a new destination. Similar thing happened with Southwest at SRQ. After years of the airport begging them to start service there, they did after all the other airlines filled up with new service, and Southwest couldn’t get all the gates they wanted.

[@tealquartz]

Southwest burbs here (no pun intended) lol and I'll take Midway ANYDAY over O'Hare

[@sammyboy892]

I love SW, but the whole Ohare thing is a total debacle. The wait to get a gate is a real thing, security in terminal 5 is awful. TSA runs the Precheck line together with general security line. They might as well not even have a Precheck line. There are very minimal food choices in terminal 5 as well. It’s such an awful experience. That being said I have heard that SW is moving to the newly remodeled east end of terminal 5. Hopefully this will at least alleviate the gate problems. For now, I will gladly pay more to fly out of Milwaukee on SW. Milwaukee has a great airport and much better parking.

[@MetalHeadJagger]

Yeah generally At Ohare Nowadays ever since they built all these Parallel Runways Ohare Uses East Flow which Mainly where traffic lines up is around chicago Dupage Airport whereas the West Flow the Traffic Lines Up Over the Lakefront and Ohare Rarely ever used the Diaganol Runways These Days and Runway 4R Is Used Sparingly

[@CO84trucker]

Best way imho to deal with limited gate space is to do ramp/hard stand loading and buses shuttling pax to terminal. Cheaper than a jetway!

[@ASAviation]

The issue with that is that ORD doesn't have enough hard stands. Many of the hard stands at T5 are occupied by international airlines who are laying over in between flights. Southwest has too many flights to ORD to make this move possible.

[@JDAWGSABBATH]

I always fly out of O'Hare and it isn't that bad like everyone says. Also it's weird seeing southwest now at O'Hare

[@canyonoverlook9937]

If O'hare is your home airport it is one of the best airports. You can get almost anywhere nonstop. I live in the area too and I like it, but for people who have to change planes there, it might be more of a problem like any hub.

[@aviationmco]

awesome video bro! well done like always. i very much agree w/southwest being a mess at ord...... i've had my personal experience and it was not well. nonetheless great content and keep it up bro!

[@ASAviation]

Thanks a lot man!

[@MaximillianPrintz]

I had the same thing happen to me flying southwest into midway from Austin though. Got there early and waited 40 minutes for a gate. And getting an Uber from midway is harder than from O’Hare.

[@saldun2603]

Good coverage jeez wtf what if you had to connect to another flight.

[@itsnotreagan]

Those are calledthru passengers when they stay on the same plane for multiple destinations and Southwest does this a lot. I worked for WN in BWI for 5 years and loved this airline they definitely looked out for their employees especially when they’re flying non-rev

[@jazzyjay81]

Well showing up to a busy airport... 35 minutes early causes issues just like this

[@nicholasaviation]

I think that you just got unlucky since I have flown out of ORD with Southwest a few times and had no delays or issues.

[@scottsomer4150]

Yes right now they have ONLY three gates at the moment

[@ralphaguayo]

Hi. I had a similar experience on Alaska. I flew San Francisco to ORD . I had to wait like 1hour 10 min to get a gate and it found one at terminal 3. I was if you can find out how many gates they have? Keep up the great work

[@ASAviation]

Alaska shares their terminal with American, they only have one or two gates as far as I know so I can see why they would experience these issues too. However Terminal 3 isn't nearly as constricted as T5, so this kind of stuff I'd imagine is pretty rare with Alaska but then again, it's American's terminal and I have had similar experiences happen to me also.

[@cubdukat]

The only real problems I have with O'Hare and Southwest is it's such a long hike to their terminals from the Blue Line stop, and that they don't have nonstop service out of O'Hare. I'd rather fly out of Midway, but come back in on O'Hare because if I get a late flight into Midway, it's easily a nearly two-hour trip before I'm back home in Uptown Chicago. O'Hare's easier to get to and from, even despite this crazy arrangement where no trains leave O'Hare after midnight. I am definitely NOT a fan of Midway if I have a late flight.

[@ASAviation]

Agreed, you definitely don't want to be stuck late in Midway.

[@JustinPinedaMedia]

Can’t wait to see the an 800/MAX 8 at O’Hare. Probably a different experience if you are flying late night to O’Hare. Maybe with Delta moving to Terminal 5, Southwest could move to Terminal 2.

[@golem45sara]

I really wonder why they don't send the 800s / max8 to O'Hare

[@JustinPinedaMedia]

@@golem45sara they will very soon. My flight in January to O’Hare from Phoenix will be on a MAX. Guess Southwest is finally replacing some of their 700s with MAX 8s

[@golem45sara]

Very interesting it seems like they had only 700 flying out of O'Hare I thought it might have been a gate size issue meaning that the aircraft were maybe it dropped too long for the M Gates

[@JustinPinedaMedia]

@@golem45sara I actually wonder if Southwest might be moving to Terminal 2 now that Delta will be moving to 5

[@golem45sara]

@@JustinPinedaMedia I think they're moving out of terminal 2 because they are doing renovations in 2 and it's just something temporary

[@Bsnsobscuregames]

I did this flight and didn’t have any issues.

[@hehepro4832]

Wow this flight was on my birthday 😊

[@elishaturner4945]

IT IS A MESS. I missed my flight because it was combined with the international departures and was stuck behind tons of people waiting on an Air India check-in

[@samaudits6196]

I flew southwest to ORD from phx non stop it went very smooth no delays what so ever

[@PatrickSennett]

Dude, you missed the British Airways A380 when you first landed and were taxiing.

[@disneyfan9099]

I flew into one of the 1st flights into O’Hare from southwest in 2021 and I must say it wasn’t bad. I will probably do it again. I like MDW but the car rentals and hotels are a lot more limited at MDW then ORD.

[@TheLewistownTrainspotter8102]

And from ORD, you have 24 hour train service to downtown on the Blue Line, whereas the Orange Line out of MDW shuts down for a few hours at night.

[@jcshobbiesandrecreation5873]

Great video presentation. I liked the information provided and the plane spotting was awesome. That said I need to disagree on Southwest out of O'Hare. As someone that use to fly Southwest out of Midway I can honestly say that O'Hare is the better option. From getting to the airport, getting through the airport and delays. We regularly saw 60-90 mins delays out of Midway even on clear calm days. It became a joke that the departure time on the ticket didn't matter. Now that they are at O'hare, I've had 4 flights out and back with only one delay due to a maintenance concern that caused us to push back about 10 mins late. Otherwise every flight into or out has been a breeze and using terminal 5 keeps you away from the chaos of terminals 1, 2 and 3. I will say that anytime the A380 is moving around everything comes to a crawl as everyone is gawking at it's size and it's difficult to maneuver around. If you get stuck on the taxiway with that thing you're screwed. One last thing. Southwest pilots pay begins when the cabin door closes. Once they are in control of the plane they are on the clock. They can taxi as slow or fast as they like.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Thank you for sharing your flight here. I just thought that Southwest wanted to stay and lead Midway Airport. O'Hare International is crowed with the other legacy airlines, internationals other low cost, corporate business jets and charters. This feels like the Los Angeles Airports with the example of John Wayne Airport lead by Southwest with the legacy airlines with two or three gates only and then LAX with Southwest. We will just see how the airlines in general continue to grow.

[@jeremiahderosas9355]

I flew Southwest for years and the first flight i took in 2 years was a rebooked flight on Southwest from Ohare and for me It went smoothly beside a 2 hour delay but arriving In ORD is a different story. I flew in and there wasnt a free gate so we traveled to the penalty box to wait for one to open up. Meanwhile Midway is small convenient and close to my home but I still prefer ORD

[@canyonoverlook9937]

Maybe they could a bus to pick people up from an outside deplaning instead of waiting for a gate. I did that on United at London/Heathrow in the 90s when United, I guess, couldn't get gates. It wasn't bad.

[@ASAviation]

They could, but SWA has too many flights to ORD to make this possible. Even if they had some flights use the hard stands and others use the gates, many of the hard stands at T5 are occupied by international airlines who are laying over in between flights.

[@sportsMike87]

I don't think this happens for every SW flight going into ORD. I've known multiple people who have taken sw fights to ORD with no delay.

[@Greg_C87]

You forgot to mention southwest is only the airline that doesn't charge for checked bags

[@henryd1981]

Speaking of Southwest now serving O'hare, it'll be interesting to see in a few years if Southwest decides to serve DFW International after 2025, when they'll have the capability to serve DFW without being required to give up gates at Love Field.

[@AEMoreira81]

That could be interesting because by then, Spirit will have disappeared, being absorbed into JetBlue, which can play disrupter at DFW as it is doing to United at EWR (both DFW and EWR are historic fortress hubs).

[@MichaelJW72]

They could move some operations to DFW to be able to fly to Mexico which they can’t do after the deal to get rid of the Wright Amendment. There’s also talk that an airport north of Dallas in McKinney will try to attract them to their airport which would make sense as it’s a fast growing part of the area.

[@cheowhite6893]

What app is that

[@ASAviation]

Flightradar24

[@PakistaniAvgeek]

Great Trip Report AS I've never flown southwest if I do fly to O hare I just fly on American or United so don't worry! 😅

[@northtexas.spotteralonsofr3942]

Ayeeee N7844A One aircraft I flew this year from Los Angeles but yea this is very interesting

[@cynbad320]

You were 30 min early. Also it may have been some kind of issue with the plane at your gate. Not enough open gates.

[@TheCrispySock]

Fun fact… I randomly got recommended this video and that 380 that was pushed out? Yeah that was me with the pushback reversing after pushing out the plane😂 BA294 off to London 🤘

[@nondisclosed5439]

Thanks for the warning! Otherwise, I might have used them from BNA my home to connect to internationals--a risky practice Ive gotten away with at Newark, JFK etc. Now I will not attempt this with ORD!

[@christopherbranski1720]

A tip should you try this: most international airlines fly out of T5, with United international flights going out of T1 and American going out of T3. Air Canada goes out of T2, and some international airlines have departures out of T1 and T3

[@michaelsharp3615]

Controversy at my university when it comes to Homecoming Royalty

[@merlin43004]

I've had the same thing happen with American, more than once. Not quite that long of a wait, but still... Using MDW on SWA definitely is a better choice.

[@mirrorwa]

Nice vid! Just wanted to say all pilots including Southwest are paid block out (pushback) to block in (brakes set) including taxi so that isn't the reason they taxi fast.

[@artteriosclerosis4891]

Great report. Unfortunately there are tarmac delays all over. DAL and HOU are notorious. Those are SWA airports. I love SWA. It's usually the airline of choice. Just wanted to add reference the boarding process. If you get the Early Bird for a few dollars extra, you always get boarding group A 16 thru 60. If you pay for Business Class, you alway board in boarding group A1 thru 15. And in both cases, SWA checks you in automatically. I'm a chubby guy so I pay extra to avoid the dreaded middle seat. Another thing. SWA has always been known as a puddle hopper. This is to avoid changing planes if possible. All 737s. No little CRJs. Love my SWA!! I'll be flying out of ORD on SWA early next year. I will be arriving on Amtrak.

[@jeremylcamp]

News is going around the DFW area that Southwest could be expanding to DFW in 2025.

[@lcarliner]

It is disappointing that Southwest Air is deviating from its Enterprise Car Rental principle of avoiding expensive and congested venues like O'Hare! Chicago has an efficient transit system so that the extra 30 minutes penalty of travel to Midway is far better than the typical one to two- hour delays of O'Hare!

[@fsuford05]

Not sure why you claim O'hare is the "better" airport in Chicago. MDW is a much quicker 'L' ride to the loop than ORD, it's smaller, the security is usually quicker, and much less congestion

[@jazzyjay81]

Every low cost carrier does this....with Flights going to multiple places using one flight number

[@wicky201]

The walk from T5 to Domestic Baggage Claim takes forever, hopefully this is temporary. With a bad back, this walk took forever.

[@michaelsharp3615]

People say the photographer accidentally cropped the photo or didn't have room to post on Instagram. Other students including American Multicultural Students, the person nominated and the group that nominated the disabled student say she was left out due to being black and disabled accusing the University and Athletics of racism

[@Monster2089]

Interesting!!

[@arosenweig]

I have never been to Dallas Love Field Airport which I hear is very similar to Chicago Midway Airport. I prefer their big brother airports of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport respectively.

[@michaelsharp3615]

Athletics did issue an apology but many people didn't accept it and it wasn't descriptive enough too