No, I’m Not Taking An Eclipse Flight Next Month

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One of the most magnificent natural phenomena that I ever experienced was a total solar eclipse in Boonville, MO some 7 years ago.

Several airlines have advertised “eclipse viewing flights” for April 8th, and given my love of aviation and total solar eclipses, people assumed that I’d be booked on that:

Frankly, the whole eclipse flight concept puzzles me.

First of all, 7 years ago, Alaska Airlines operated an eclipse flight, but they calculated that for an eclipse to be seen from airplane windows, the sun would have to be lower than 30 degrees above the horizon.

That ruled out a flight over the continental US and necessitated a 5 hour flight to nowhere over the Pacific Ocean. That way they would catch the sun where it would be 25 degrees above the horizon for ideal viewing conditions from a plane window for 103 seconds of totality.

For the 2024 eclipse, Delta flight 1010 was advertised as an eclipse flight and will fly from Dallas to Detroit during the eclipse.

The sun will be eclipsed at 64.7 degrees above the horizon in Dallas, far too high to see from an airplane window.

Potentially along the flight path, in Indianapolis the sun will be eclipsed at 53.1 degrees above the horizon, still too high to be seen from plane windows.

Will the plane perform some steep banking to allow the eclipse to be seen at that altitude? Will they find a way for people on both sides of the plane to see the eclipse? And how long could the eclipse possibly be visible under those trying conditions? And what if you don’t have a window seat…

DansDeals reached out to Delta for comment on those logistics but we have not yet received a reply.

That’s a lot of unknowns, but even in a perfect scenario, on a plane you may be able to see an eclipse.

In cities like Buffalo, Cleveland, Dallas, or Indianapolis, you’ll be able to experience an eclipse. Of course, that’s assuming the weather cooperates, but we won’t have accurate weather forecasts until a couple of days prior to April 8th.

Part of the eclipse experience is being surrounded by people who ooh and aah when they feel the temperature rapidly plummet, hear the animals change noises, notice all of the crescent-shaped shadows covering the ground that are caused by the eclipse, and more that you will only experience on the ground.

You can view the exact path and totality times here. You’ll want to be as close to the blue line as possible.

It will be decades until a total solar eclipse returns to the US. Will you plan on seeing next month’s total eclipse? Where do you hope to see it?