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Many US Airplanes Are Parked in the Southwest for Now
Meg Butler April 21, 2020
As the coronavirus cancels flights all over the world, many airlines in the United States are sending their planes to their new temporary home: airports in the Southwest desert. There, the desert’s dry heat is the perfect climate for planes to wait out the epidemic.
From New Mexico to California
All over the southwest, several small airports (and some large international ones) have turned over their space to store planes during the pandemic.
The Marna Regional Airport in Arizona is storing 19 American Eagle Planes; Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has around a dozen planes from different airlines; Pinal County Airpark has already been busy storing Boeing 737 Max Planes, and space is filling up as they add more planes grounded because of the coronavirus.
Other, larger airports include the Roswell International Air Center in New Mexico and San Bernardino International Airport in California.
The Storage Situation
To protect them from the harsh desert sun, the planes are wrapped in a protective layer. For added protection, they undergo weekly maintenance checks which is providing more airport jobs.
The Future
Most of the stored planes will go back into service. However, some of the older planes may be sold for parts.
“At this point, no one has any idea how long they are going to be here, Steve Miller, the airport’s director told Fox News, “but we are planning it could be a year, could be longer.”
Driving along I-10 out of Tucson is always fun because you never know what you'll find at Marana. And like gavron says, it's not Marna, just like it's not Tuscon. ;-)
> The Marna Regional Airport in Arizona Yeah, that's MARANA Regional in Tucson, Arizona. KAVQ. I fly helicopters out of there. E