Canadian airlines say travelers won’t have their flight schedules impacted by the solar eclipse happening on Monday. total solar eclipse, though passengers should protect their eyes during the astronomical event.
Air Canada says the eclipse in Eastern Canada on Monday afternoon won't affect their operations, but they reminded staff not to look directly at the eclipse.
WestJet has taken safety measures, and passengers who want to see the shadowed sun should bring their own eye protection.
Air Transat will instruct passengers to keep their window shades closed.
Transport Canada issued a statement reminding industry members that there will be sudden darkness and twilight conditions that could impact pilots.
In an email, a spokesperson for the government agency stated that pilots who are not authorized to fly in limited visibility conditions may face restrictions during the eclipse, although this applies to a small portion of pilots.
“Commercial pilots and above are trained to fly at night, and if it was dark enough in the path of totality and you were landing or taking off, it might be similar to a night takeoff or landing,” said Mason Fraser, who teaches at Seneca Polytechnic’s School of Aviation.
“But your private pilots aren’t always trained for night operation.”
He said pilots flying toward the sun during the eclipse will just have to take normal precautions to ensure they don’t inadvertently damage their eyes, such as putting the sun shade down.
