Alaska Airlines Delays Flight So Passengers Can Get This Otherworldly View

This is one flight delay people were actually happy about.

Alaska Airlines delayed a Tuesday flight by 25 minutes so that passengers would have an ideal view of a total solar eclipse.

Astronomer Joe Rao noticed about a year ago that Flight 870 — from Anchorage to Honololu — was going to pass right through the darkest part of the moon’s shadow over Earth, otherwise known as the “path of totality,” according to an Alaska Airlines blog post. There was just one slight problem: The flight was scheduled to come 25 minutes too early to catch the moment when the sun and moon aligned.

Rao convinced the airline to delay the flight and booked a window seat, along with about a dozen other astronomers and eclipse enthusiasts. ABC News reported earlier this week that Rao would be handing out informational material about the eclipse during the flight, and another passenger planned to bring enough pairs of protective glasses so that everyone on board would be able to safely watch the sun during all phases of the eclipse.

We're guessing the view was worth the delay.

Just last month, Delta gave a different group a passengers an unexpectedly scenic view when the pilot decided to mix up the route from JFK to LAX, giving everyone onboard a surprise aerial tour of the Grand Canyon.