Summary
- Southwest operates multi-hop flights nationwide with identical flight numbers and the same aircraft.
- In September 2024, the airline has 1,814 flight numbers with stops en route.
- Flight WN1542 has the most stops this month (six!), arriving at its destination after 17+ hours.
Southwest is known for its multi-leg and occasionally very long services, which use identical flight numbers and the exact same aircraft. This is how its equipment is flown countrywide around its vast domestic system, often helped by timezone changes. It helps with higher aircraft utilization.
Southwest’s stopping flights: September
The carrier’s exact multi-hop routings vary monthly, which does not help with understanding. Nonetheless, they remain compelling, especially for someone like me, sitting thousands of miles away. They are unusual and, dare I say it, exciting,
I have gone through Southwest’s full September 2024 schedule using Cirium data. I found out that the airline has 1,814 (!) different flight numbers with one or more stops en route. Funnily enough, flight number WN1814 is not a stopping service. The closest is WN1806, which operates Phoenix-Ontario-San Jose on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Of the 1,814 services, only one has six stops, which is this article’s focus. A further four have five stops en route, and 15 have four. Of course, the vast majority have one. Occasionally, Southwest has routings with seven stops—but not in September.
Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock
The airline’s only six-stop service
Below is an overview of the operation, with the 143-seat Boeing 737-700 down for all the service’s September flights. You can fly the whole way, although it tends to be expensive. I confirmed the ability to fly the entire thing with Noel Philips, a long-time friend, who did something similar recently, although on a shorter service.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
You cannot book the whole routing in one. Instead, you can book particular parts separately, such as Milwaukee-Baltimore-Charlotte, Charlotte-Nashville-Denver, etc. You’d then leave the aircraft and wait in the gate area to reboard the aircraft you had just arrived on.
|
Flight |
Full routing |
Start time (local) |
Finish time (local) |
Days of operation |
Nautical miles (km) covered |
Day length* |
Block hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
WN1542 |
Milwaukee-Baltimore-Charlotte-Nashville-Denver-Santa Ana-Sacramento-Seattle |
05:05 |
20:10 |
Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays |
3,649 (6,757) |
17h 5m |
13h 25m |
|
* Incl. stops |
* Excl. stops |
Image: GCMap
Exploring flight WN1542
The day starts with ‘Southwest Fifteen Forty-Two’ leaving Wisconsin at 05:05 for Baltimore, arriving at 07:55 local time (one hour ahead of Milwaukee). The horrendous departure time is partly due to passengers connecting to another flight at Southwest’s third-busiest airport for September flights. After a 40-minute turn, it continues to Charlotte, arriving at 10:15 local time.
Some 35 minutes later, WN1542 leaves for Nashville at 10:50, arriving at 11:15 local (minus one hour from Charlotte). This is the day’s shortest and quickest stage length.
At 11:50, the flight continues to Denver, which is by far the longest sector. It covers 881 nautical miles (1,613 km) with a 2h 45m block. It arrives in Colorado at 13:35 local (one hour behind Tennessee).
When the operating aircraft arrives at Denver—the airport with the most Southwest flights this month—at 13:35, over half of the day’s flying is done. After a 40-minute turn, WN1542 leaves for Santa Ana at 14:15, arriving at 15:40 local (minus one hour from Colorado). Flights then leave for Sacramento and ultimately get to Seattle at 20:10.
According to Flightradar24, the operating 737-700 does not then remain overnight. Instead, on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, it switches to WN2667 and operates back to Sacramento, arriving at 22:40 and ending a very long day.