Monday's solar eclipse will give a number of the country's smaller airports a moment within the sun.
The Federal Aviation Administration reported that incoming flights at airports from Burlington, Vermont, to southern Illinois were briefly stopped Monday morning ahead of the entire solar eclipse.
Such disruptions are repeatedly brought on by bad weather and heavy traffic in major city hubs, but high demand for prime views of the phenomenon blocked some smaller airports on Monday. The best views of the solar eclipse within the United States are said to increase from Texas through Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio to northwestern New York and Maine NASA.
FAA traffic adjustments give airports time to catch up and avoid aircraft parking congestion on the bottom.
“We had to close the runway to park planes,” Alyssa Connell, operations manager at Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Illinois, told CNBC. The airport, which has three runways, began accepting reservations for Eclipse flights and reached its maximum capability Friday for 230 small propeller planes, in addition to about 45 larger jets and bigger turboprops. “This is by far the most aircraft we have ever seen.”
Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport in Vermont is predicted to receive between 100 and 130 general aviation aircraft on Monday, said Dave Carman, deputy director of flight operations. Some scheduled industrial passenger aircraft service can be expected.
“That’s the most we’ve seen in one day,” Carman said. “It’s going to be hectic getting out,” he said.
The eclipse was described as a significant event on the FAA's morning planning meeting at its command center in Warrenton, Virginia, in response to an agency spokeswoman. Other common obstacles include presidential travel, severe weather or major sporting and entertainment events.
The FAA had previously warned pilots about possible disruptions and heavy traffic at quite a few airports on or near the eclipse.
Delta Airlines sold special eclipse flights where passengers could view them from the sky, one from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Detroit and one other from Austin, Texas, to Detroit.
Other airlines have announced flights that might offer a view of the solar eclipse along the “path of totality.” United Airlines said bookings to San Antonio across the eclipse greater than doubled in comparison with the identical dates last 12 months and increased sharply in Cleveland and Little Rock, Arkansas.
The eclipse is predicted to be a boon for hotels, home rentals and other businesses as tourists flock in.
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