Captain Ed Evans began his day well before dawn, preparing Southwest flight 8921 for a nearly 19-hour journey. The year-old Boeing 737 MAX8 flew over 4,000 miles, traveling from Baltimore to Denver, Long Beach, Reno, Las Vegas, Sacramento and back to Las Vegas.

“Planes start in 118 airports where we operate every day, and they could end up somewhere totally different,” Evans said.

For the airline, the holiday season requires precision and efficiency. 

“We’re ready to go,” Evans said. “I think we’re in great shape and looking forward to the holiday travel season.”

Thanksgiving week is crunch time for airlines, and Southwest Airlines is expecting a record number of passengers this year, with 4.7 million people flying to or from their holiday destinations.

At each stop, the team works quickly to prepare the plane for its next departure. Ryan Robles, a flight attendant, described it as a race against the clock. 

“We’ve got a 45-minute turn, so it becomes very important to be prompt,” Robles said.

Behind the scenes at Southwest Airlines

Meanwhile, ground crews hustle to load luggage and restock the plane. The focus is to load all the bags so the plane can get back out onto the runway.

On this journey, the crew changed multiple times. Flight attendants swapped out twice, and the pilots changed in Reno. In Denver, husband-and-wife team Andrew Witmer and Jordan Baumgarner worked to quickly restock snacks and drinks. 

“I’m very competitive,” Jordan said. Andrew added, “We try to race each other.”

Across six flights, the plane carried 698 passengers and 578 checked bags. Among the passengers was Katie Jones, who was taking her 3-year-old son, Clark, to Disneyland for his birthday. 

“What do you want to go see? Mickey? The Toy Story ride?” Jones asked her excited son.

Running an airline is no small task, according to Southwest CEO Bob Jordan. 

“Everything wants to stay in motion all the time. The minute you stop or slow down, things are out of place,” Jordan explained.

Inside Southwest’s network operation center in Dallas, Sarah Heugel monitored the cross-country journey, watching for turbulence, bad weather, or airport backups that could cause delays. 

“We can see pretty much anything that they’re going to encounter and anticipate things to happen,” she said.

As night fell, flight 8921 completed its last stop of the day, remaining on schedule. Its rest would be brief—just seven hours before maintenance checks and a new day of travel.

For passengers, it’s a chance to connect with loved ones during the holidays. For the airline, it’s a delicate dance of coordination and teamwork to keep everything moving.