Eclipse Flights Give Passengers Experience of a Lifetime

While many of us watched Monday’s solar eclipse from the ground, a select few got to see the rare occurrence in-air on special flights. 

Delta and Southwest both hosted solar eclipse flights that flew in the path of totality at the time of the cosmic event on April 8. Many passengers onboard saw the eclipse from the aircraft, while a few reported not being able to see it at all.

“It was so surreal seeing just the darkness outside the plane, and when we went into the bank, being able to look up and seeing, it’s like a hole in the sky,” said Paul Donlin, a frequent Delta flier who booked a window seat as soon as tickets went on sale. “Everything is dark, everything is black. It looks a way that it shouldn’t look. It doesn’t work in your brain.” 

Some passengers told the Daily Mail and New York Post, however, that they could not see the eclipse from Delta flights 1218 from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and 1010 from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW).  

Yet most shared that they enjoyed a fun, communal experience trying to get a glimpse of the phenomenon from the plane. In fact, a couple from New York even got engaged on one of the flights, The Detroit News reported. Both flights landed in Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) after the eclipse. 

Southwest held “Solarbrations” on three of its flights that traveled in the path of totality during the time of the eclipse: flight 1252, which departed Dallas (Love Field) for Pittsburgh; 1721, which departed Austin for Indianapolis, and 1910, which departed St. Louis for Houston (Hobby). 

Both airlines handed out eclipse glasses and had special cocktails, napkins, and T-shirts for the occasion.