- Dallas-based travel blogger and photographer Andy Luten took to the skies to document the effects of the pandemic on air travel, visiting six airports across the American Southwest home to grounded aircraft.
- Chartering a helicopter at each location, Luten got a unique aerial perspective of the hundreds of grounded jets from various US and foreign airlines.
- The journey took two weeks with over 4,000 miles driven by Luten in an electric Tesla vehicle.
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Like most travelers, Dallas resident Andy Luten has been grounded since March. Normally averaging around 150,000 miles of flying each year for work and pleasure, Luten has been forced to watch from the ground as the airline industry slowly dwindles to a shell of its former self.
In his role as a financial software consultant, Luten is frequently taking to the skies and also maintains a travel blog, aptly named Andy’s Travel Blog. Luten features flight and trip reports where, as an avid photographer, he gets to combine his photography and aviation passions, sharing his experiences with the public.
As the American Southwest quickly became a major destination for grounded airliners from across the world, Luten saw an opportunity to get back in the air while continuing to photograph the birds that he loves flying on.
One April day, Luten approached a local helicopter company with what would normally be an unusual request, to fly directly over a nearby airport to take photographs of the grounded Spirit Airlines jets that were lining its taxiways.
After a successful flight, the next two weeks would see Luten drive over 4,000 miles to photograph six airports in total, documenting the plight of the airline industry in his photo story, “They will fly again: an aerial look at grounded jets across the USA.”
Take a look at how Luten did it.
