A total solar eclipse will be visible across North and Central America on April 8. For people in the contiguous U.S., it will be 20 years until their next opportunity to see one, according to NASA.
Some airplane passengers will have the chance to experience the eclipse in the sky April 8, Delta Air Lines announced. The special flight — number 1218 — is scheduled to travel from Austin, Texas, to Detroit from 12:15 p.m. CT until 4:20 p.m. ET “for umbraphiles to be able to spend as much time as possible directly within the path of totality.”
“This eclipse will last more than twice as long as the one that occurred in 2017, and the path is nearly twice as wide,” said Warren Weston, Delta Air Lines lead meteorologist.
The Delta flight will utilize an aircraft with large windows — an A220-300 — and will also be timed to give passengers the best chance of safely viewing the eclipse at its peak, the airline said.
Although flight 1218 sold out within 24 hours, Delta passengers on several other April 8 flights will also have prime eclipse-viewing opportunities and are encouraged to bring protective viewing glasses.
- DL 5699: Detroit (DTW) to White Plains, N.Y. (HPN), departing at 2:59 p.m. ET
- DL 924: Los Angeles (LAX) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), departing at 8:40 a.m. PT
- DL 2869: Los Angeles (LAX) to San Antonio (SAT) departing at 9 a.m. PT
- DL 1001: Salt Lake City (SLC) to San Antonio (SAT) departing at 10:08 a.m. MT
- DL 1683: Salt Lake City (SLC) to Austin, Texas (AUS), departing at 9:55 a.m. MT
Southwest also announced several scheduled flights that have the greatest likelihood of providing a good view of the eclipse:
- SWA 1252: Dallas (DAL) to Pittsburgh (PIT), departing at 12:45 p.m. CDT
- SWA 1721: Austin, Texas (AUS), to Indianapolis (IND), departing at 12:50 p.m. CDT
- SWA 1910: St. Louis (STL) to Houston (HOU), departing at 1:20 p.m. CDT
