Solar Eclipse 2024: Flights That Overlap with the Path of Totality

26.03.2024 - 21:15 / cntraveler.com / Airlines

April 8 is shaping up to be a busy day for US airlines, as travelers chase the total solar eclipse sweeping across the nation from Texas to Maine—a rare event that won’t be visible from the contiguous US again until 2044.

While many eclipse-chasers are booking up hotels and Airbnbs located along the path of totality, some travelers are taking to the skies in order to get as close to the celestial event as humanly possible.

Ideally, these eclipse flights will allow for prime viewing of the moon passing in front of the sun, since the atmosphere tends to be clearer above the clouds. But with the eclipse only lasting between one to four minutes, there are "many challenges with trying to time being on a commercial airplane during an eclipse flight,” airline industry analyst Mike Arnot tells Condé Nast Traveler.

For one, it can be difficult to know which side of the plane will have the best view of the eclipse, which depends on the plane's exact flight path. And of course, there's always the risk that weather could cause route changes or delays. In fact, there's been so much hype around the eclipse that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has even issued a domestic notice in recent days warning of “possible impacts to air traffic and airports along the eclipse path” from April 7 to 10. Aircraft should be ready for potential holdings and rerouting, as well as delays due to higher traffic volumes, the FAA says, noting that airports in the greater Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Memphis areas are the most likely to see flight disruptions.

These potential obstacles haven't stopped airlines from touting their eclipse flights, though. Below, we've rounded up the best ways to view the eclipse from the sky, including special flights specifically scheduled to chase the eclipse, as well as regularly scheduled flights that will likely overlap with the path of totality.

Several airlines have announced special flight routes that will trace the eclipse's path of totality.

The Atlanta-based carrier has scheduled two special flights specifically to chase the eclipse path. First flight 1218, which will depart at 12:15 p.m. from Austin and land in Detroit at 4:20 p.m. on an Airbus A220-300, sold out within 24 hours, so Delta added flight 1010 from Dallas Fort Worth, which will leave at 12:30 p.m. also landing in Detroit at the same time aboard a bigger Airbus A321neo.

Delta also says that five of its regularly scheduled flights will also have “prime eclipse-viewing opportunity,” citing flight 5699 from Detroit to New York’s Westchester at 2:59 p.m local time on a ERJ-175, flight 924 from Los Angeles to Dallas Fort Worth at 8:40 a.m. on an A320, flight 2869 from Los Angeles to San