Our flight home from Maui on Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL was a somewhat unusual one, as far as my experiences with the airline have been. Between the load factor, the aircraft, and the weather, this was far from what I usually come to expect, both good and bad.
On our final day in Maui, we didn’t do much. We had a leisurely (if disappointing) buffet breakfast at our hotel, followed by a quick stop at Maui Ku’ia Estate Chocolate to load up on some brownies and omiyage. I’ve covered Maui Ku’ia Estate before, so I won’t do so again here. But, yes, I did love the brownies enough the first time around to want to lug them back home during this visit. However, with time running out, we made our way back to Kahului to drop our car off and check our bag for Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL.
Check-In
This being Southwest, I checked in the day before and burned the free Upgraded Boardings provided by my Chase Southwest Priority Visa, which got us positions A2 and A3. Score! However, that didn’t end up mattering quite as much as it usually would have. But, more on that later.
Boarding
There was virtually no lines for the bag drop and TSA Pre-Check, so we made it through to the terminal really quickly. To kill time, I ended up plane spotting, which was interesting. You see, our flight was departing from Gate 3, which is right at the threshold for Kahului’s Runway 2. That meant I got some cool shots of arriving and departing flights.
Of the aircraft I snapped was the one operating Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL that day, N3820J, which was a disappointment to me, but more on that later.
Our scheduled boarding time was at 4:55 pm, though our lineup call didn’t come until 4:57 pm. The team here was pretty strict about the order, too. But, they weren’t quite as detailed as the crew we had in Honolulu. Pre-boarding followed shortly after at 4:59 pm. Also unlike our outbound flight, pre-boarding was short and quick, so we were on the plane at around 5 pm.
Remember how I said I was disappointed by the aircraft operating Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL that day? Well, it’s because it was a Boeing 737-800. And, let me tell you, once you’ve flown on a MAX and experienced how quiet it is, you won’t want to go back to an NG.
Anyway, boarding wrapped up really quickly, with the cabin door closing at 5:16 pm. That’s just 19 minutes after the lineup call! Apparently, that was at least partly because the flight wasn’t sold out. According to our crew, 111 of 175 seats were sold on this particular flight.
Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL
Thanks to our fast boarding, our flight began its pushback a full six minutes early at 5:19 pm. However, our crew warned that beverage service wouldn’t happen due to turbulence, and that our overall flight time would be 21 minutes.
After pushing back, we lined up behind a Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717.
Early evening is a busy time at Hawai’i airports, as both Hawaiian and Southwest loads up their schedules for returning day trippers. So even though our gate was right next to Runway 2’s threshold, we didn’t become number one for departure until eight minutes after pushing back. Then, a minute later, we began our takeoff roll.
As is so often the case, our ride was quite bumpy as we climbed out of Kahului, though things did smooth out as we got to our cruising altitude. By the way, the views that evening were great. Immediately after departure, we got a great view of Haleakalā with both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea off in the distance.
Our route that evening also took us past Kapalua Resort. You actually could’ve seen all of Kā’anapali and Lahaina, too, but the cloud cover that evening prevented this.
We also passed to the north of Lana’i, though most of it was obscured by clouds, too.
Just 12 minutes after beginning our takeoff roll, we were already descending into Honolulu. As we approached O’ahu, the ride got bumpy again, though the cloud cover wasn’t early as bad. In fact, as we turned off the Leeward Coast, I got great shots of the US Navy Lualualei VLF Communication Station, Ko Olina, HECO’s Kahe power plant, and Ka Makana Ali’i. Just below Ka Makana, you can even make out the Hawaiian Railway Society’s Ewa train yard.
At precisely 6 pm, 22 minutes after began out takeoff roll, we touched down on Runway 8L in Honolulu. However, during our final approach, we got to see some interesting aircraft on the apron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. The usually Boeing C-17s and KC-135s were there, but that day also saw a Boeing P-8 Poseidon, a KC-46 Pegasus, and a French Air Force Airbus A400M. We also zipped past a Southwest Boeing 737 and Hawaiian Boeing 717 holding short of the runway.
As we slowed, we passed Aloha Air Cargo’s jam-packed hang and apron, featuring several Boeing 737 and 767 cargo aircraft.
Sitting outside of Hawaiian’s hanger was a Boeing 717 and Boeing 787 N781HA “Kapuahi. “
We then pulled off of 8L and made our way to the Central Concourse.
At 6:02 pm, Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL pulled into gate E7, a full eight minutes ahead of schedule. Two minutes later, the cabin door was opened and we all began filing out.
Much like our arrival in Kahului, bags began coming out quickly, and I was able to snag mine by 6:15 pm, after which, we headed across the street to the overseas parking garage, piled into our car, and drove home.
Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL, Final Thoughts
Our experience on Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL was, overall, quite good. And, honestly, even with Alaska acquiring Hawaiian, it’d be difficult for me to rationalize switching back, especially since Southwest will be rolling out assigned seating. If everything else remains the same, the only thing that would send me back to Hawaiian is schedule, as it did in May 2023.
Visiting Maui Post-Fire
- Introduction
- Southwest 3524 Honolulu to Kahului
- Alamo Kahului Mercedes-Benz GLC 300
- Wabisabi Hawaii
- Hyatt Regency Maui
- Miss Arepa Maui
- A Day of Hiking in Haleakalā National Park
- Restaurant Marlow
- Hula Cookies Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Southwest 5136 OGG-HNL
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