What's flying over Columbus right now?

What you're seeing over Columbus

Most airliners over Columbus are flying to or from John Glenn Columbus International, about six miles east of downtown. It is a point-to-point airport rather than a hub, with Southwest, American, Delta and United carrying most passengers. Because the airport is so close to the city and its runways run east-west, arrivals and departures cross the east side and the near-downtown neighborhoods at fairly low altitude.

Columbus has two other distinctive features in its sky. NetJets, the largest fractional-ownership business jet company, is headquartered at John Glenn, so you'll see a lot of high-end business jets coming and going, from Phenoms and Citation Latitudes to Challengers and Global Expresses. And Rickenbacker International, south of the city, is a dedicated cargo airport that handles big international freighters, while the Ohio Air National Guard flies KC-135 tankers from the same field. Ohio State's Don Scott Airport, northwest of downtown, adds flight-training traffic. Watch it on the live map, and see our glossary entry for bizjets to tell the private jets apart.

Airports near Columbus

• commercialCMHJohn Glenn Columbus International Airport
  KCMH · 6 miles northeast of downtown
  Columbus's main passenger airport and the headquarters base of NetJets. Live traffic at CMH ↗
• cargoLCKRickenbacker International Airport
  KLCK · 11 miles south of downtown
  A former Air Force base that now specializes in cargo and shares its field with an Air National Guard tanker wing. Live traffic at LCK ↗
• general aviationOSUOhio State University Airport (Don Scott Field)
  KOSU · 9 miles northwest of downtown
  A university-owned airport with flight training and business aviation. Live traffic at OSU ↗
• general aviationKTZRBolton Field
  KTZR · 8 miles southwest of downtown
  A small general aviation airport on the west side of the city. Live traffic at KTZR ↗

Common traffic over Columbus

Southwest is the largest airline at John Glenn, flying 737-800s and MAX 8s, while American, Delta, United, Alaska, Spirit, Frontier and others fly A320-family jets, 737s and regional jets to their hubs and leisure destinations. Allegiant also flies leisure routes from Rickenbacker.

CMH has two parallel runways running east-west:

• West flow, the most common with prevailing west winds: arrivals descend from the east over Reynoldsburg, Gahanna and Blacklick, and departures climb out to the west over the near east side, Bexley and Olde Towne East, before turning.
• East flow: arrivals approach from the west over the near east side and departures climb east over Gahanna and New Albany.

NetJets runs one of the world's largest private jet fleets from its CMH base, so you'll see a constant stream of Phenom 300s, Citation Latitudes, Challenger 350s and Global jets heading in and out on positioning flights and owner trips.

Rickenbacker handles international cargo flights on 747s, 777s and other freighters, along with domestic e-commerce operations. The Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing flies KC-135 tankers from the field. Helicopters include MedFlight, which serves hospitals across central Ohio, Columbus Police and news crews. Overflights between the Northeast and the Midwest pass over the region at cruise altitude, and Ohio State football Saturdays bring a wave of business jets and temporary flight restrictions around the stadium.

Aircraft you'll often see here

Plane-spotting tips for Columbus

The public roads around John Glenn's perimeter, especially toward the east end of the field, give views of west-flow arrivals and of NetJets aircraft taxiing to and from the company's hangars, and the airport's cell phone lot is a convenient place to wait with a live map open. Stay off airport property and obey no-parking signs. Rickenbacker's perimeter roads near Alum Creek Drive offer views of freighters and tankers. From downtown, look east toward the airport, where departures in west flow climb out over the near east side. Central Ohio's gray winters can hide aircraft under low cloud, while late spring and fall bring the clearest days.

Columbus sky questions

Nearby cities

Planes over Cincinnati (100 mi) · Planes over Cleveland (126 mi) · Planes over Pittsburgh (162 mi) · Planes over Detroit (164 mi)