HUDSON VALLEY, NY — New Yorkers are being offered the chance to see the upcoming total solar eclipse from thousands of feet in the air.
Delta Air Lines will provide six flights, one a path-of-totality flight, for customers to view the 2024 total solar eclipse on April 8.
It will be March 30, 2033, before another total solar eclipse touches the United States, and that’s only on the tip of Alaska. It’ll be Aug. 12, 2044, before the next eclipse sweeps across the lower 48 states, with parts of Montana and North Dakota experiencing totality.
The duration of totality for the April eclipse will be up to 4 minutes and 24 seconds in Eagle Pass, Texas, beginning at 1:27 p.m. Central Daylight Time. In Jackman, Maine, the eclipse reaches totality at about an hour later, at 3:29 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and lasts about 3 minutes and 26 seconds. Partial phases last around an hour and 20 minutes.
A special flight from Austin, Texas, to Detroit, Michigan, will afford travelers the opportunity to see the eclipse from 30,000 feet high.
Delta flight 1218 will be operated on an A220-300, which the airlines said offers “premium viewing” because of its oversized windows.
Departure will be at 12:15 p.m. CT from Austin with arrival at 4:20 p.m. ET in Detroit, which Delta said will allow flyers the chance to see the eclipse at its peak.
“This flight is the result of significant collaboration and exemplifies the close teamwork Delta is known for — from selecting an aircraft with larger windows to determining the exact departure time from Austin and the experiences at the gate and in the air,” Eric Beck, managing director of domestic network planning, said in a news release. “Thanks to teams across the company, the idea of viewing a total eclipse from the air will become a reality for our customers.”
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Don’t fret – if you miss the Austin flight, Delta is planning five more in other states for customers.
See the remaining flights below:
- DL 5699, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport-Westchester County Airport, 2:59 p.m. EST departure, ERJ-175
- DL 924, Los Angeles International Airport-Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, 8:40 a.m. PST departure, A320
- DL 2869, Los Angeles International Airport-San Antonio International Airport, 9 a.m. PST departure, A319
- DL 1001, Salt Lake City International Airport-San Antonio International Airport, 10:08 a.m. MST departure, A220-300
- DL 1683, Salt Lake City International Airport-Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, 9:55 a.m. MST departure, A320
Delta noted weather and air traffic control could affect timing and the aircraft.
“The April 8 eclipse is the last total eclipse we’ll see over North America until 2044,” Warren Weston, Delta Air Lines lead meteorologist, said in the release. “This eclipse will last more than twice as long as the one that occurred in 2017, and the path is nearly twice as wide.”
Booking information is available via Delta’s website.
