For 20 years, airplanes—big ones—have set a daily cadence. Early departures roar overhead crowing the daybreak as reliably as a rooster. The departure procedure from one runway involves a heading change to avoid flying low over homes, but some airplanes are moving so fast that they thunder over my sleeping neighbors before heading over the water.
An Empty Sky at Tampa
Key Takeaways:
- The author, previously enjoying the constant bustle and noise of living near Tampa International Airport, now experiences an unsettling silence due to the drastic reduction in air traffic caused by COVID-19.
- The pandemic has severely impacted the aviation industry, idling airline pilots, slowing airport operations, and largely replacing passenger flights with freighters.
- The author personally finds the quiet unsettling, describing recent flights as "scary quiet" and expressing a profound longing for the return of normal air travel to see family and fly as before.
- The article reflects on the uncertain future of aviation, comparing it to an instrument landing where ground contact is made but the runway remains unseen.
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