An airline employee was required to be present on an additional flight, so passengers aboard a Southwest Airlines plane between Dallas to Kansas City on Friday morning experienced an unexpected and unplanned stay in Wichita.
Friday approximately 7:30 a.m., Southwest Flight WN-872 took off from Dallas Love Field, but rather than making the 1-hour trip up to Kansas City, they first landed in Wichita to ensure that 1 flight crew could exit.
The 17-year-old Boeing 737 managed to reach its final stop in Kansas City, where travelers arrived a little over sixty minutes late after the flight attendant had taken off.
A spokeswoman for Southwest explained what took place to Gary Leff from View from the Wing, stating that the flight departing Wichita was set to run on Friday morning yet did not have a flight attendant who was required to be part of the minimum staffing level.