An Unusual Arrival
Yellowbird's home base, Westfield-Barnes Municipal (
KBAF) is a relatively quiet class D airport. We do see a fair amount of bizjet traffic, and the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard flies A-10's from their base at the north end of the field, but apart from the occasional military transport, it's rare that we would see anything larger than a Citation or Falcon on our 9,000 foot runway. So, it was with some surprise that I noticed this unusual arrival on Saturday morning. One of Southwest Airlines' newer 737's (note the winglets) landed on 02 between 9:00 and 10:00. As I arrived just after 10:00 to meet up with some friends, I saw him taxiing down Bravo for departure.
He was coming from the north end of the field, which makes me suspect that his visit may have been associated with the 104th FW. It's not unusual to see military units traveling by contracted civil airliner, but I don't recall hearing of any deployments by the 104th recently. Southwest already flies out of Bradley International (
KBDL), only 15 miles south of Westfield, so I doubt that they are scoping out new fields to fly from. It would be nice, though, since I live within walking distance of Barnes. I could save a bundle on parking. But, even if they put in a jetway, I fear that our tiny terminal would be quickly overwhelmed by the arrival of even a little 737.
Yellowbird's home base, Westfield-Barnes Municipal (KBAF) is a relatively quiet class D airport. We do see a fair amount of bizjet traffic, and the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard flies A-10's from their base at the north end of the field, but apart from the occasional military transport, it's rare that we would see anything larger than a Citation or Falcon on our 9,000 foot runway. So, it was with some surprise that I noticed this unusual arrival on Saturday morning. One of Southwest Airlines' newer 737's (note the winglets) landed on 02 between 9:00 and 10:00. As I arrived just after 10:00 to meet up with some friends, I saw him taxiing down Bravo for departure. 
He was coming from the north end of the field, which makes me suspect that his visit may have been associated with the 104th FW. It's not unusual to see military units traveling by contracted civil airliner, but I don't recall hearing of any deployments by the 104th recently. Southwest already flies out of Bradley International (KBDL), only 15 miles south of Westfield, so I doubt that they are scoping out new fields to fly from. It would be nice, though, since I live within walking distance of Barnes. I could save a bundle on parking. But, even if they put in a jetway, I fear that our tiny terminal would be quickly overwhelmed by the arrival of even a little 737.
Chances are it was a military charter. It's a little-known fact that Southwest is about the biggest carrier in the domestic-movement military charter biz.
Nice pic, too!