US Flight animation (svg)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/d3/4.10.2/d3.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/topojson/3.0.2/topojson.min.js"></script>
<script src="routes.js"></script>
  
  <style>
    body { margin:0;position:fixed;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;left:0; }
    
    .states {
  fill: #696969;
  stroke: #6cb0e0;
  stroke-width: 0.5px;
  stroke-linecap: round;
  stroke-linejoin: round;
}

.airports {
  fill: #000;
  stroke: transparent;
  stroke-width: 0.5px;
  stroke-linecap: round;
  stroke-linejoin: round;
}
    
.route {
  fill: none;
  stroke-width: 0;
}

.plane {
  fill: #fff;
  stroke-width: 0;
}
  </style>
</head>

function initMap(selector) {
  const $flightmap = $(selector)
  if (!$flightmap) return
  const width = 720
  const height = 512

const pro = d3.geoAlbersUsa()
                     .scale(900)
                     .translate([width / 2, height / 2])

const path = d3.geoPath()
               .pointRadius(1.2)
               .projection(pro)

const svg = d3.select(selector)
              .append('svg')
              .attr('preserveAspectRatio', 'xMidYMid')
              .attr('viewBox', '0 0 ' + width + ' ' + height)
              .attr('width', width)
              .attr('height', height)
              .attr('class', 'intrinsic__element')

const airportMap = {}

function transition (plane, route) {
    const l = route.node().getTotalLength()
    plane.transition()
        .duration(l * 20)
        .attr('style', 'display:block')
        .attrTween('transform', delta(plane, route.node()))
        .on('end', () => { route.remove() })
        .remove()
  }

function delta (plane, path) {
    const l = path.getTotalLength()
    return function (i) {
      return function (t) {
        const p = path.getPointAtLength(t * l)
        const t2 = Math.min(t + 0.05, 1)
        const p2 = path.getPointAtLength(t2 * l)
        const x = p2.x - p.x
        const y = p2.y - p.y
        const r = 90 - Math.atan2(-y, x) * 180 / Math.PI
        const s = Math.min(Math.sin(Math.PI * t) * 0.7, 0.3)
        return 'translate(' + p.x + ',' + p.y + ') scale(' + s + ') rotate(' + r + ')'
      }
    }
  }

function fly (origin, destination) {
    if (!airportMap[origin] || !airportMap[destination]) return

const route = svg.append('path')
                   .datum({type: 'LineString', coordinates: [airportMap[origin], airportMap[destination]]})
                   .attr('class', 'route')
                   .attr('d', path)

const plane = svg.append('path')
                  .attr('class', 'plane')
                  .attr('d', 'm25.21488,3.93375c-0.44355,0 -0.84275,0.18332 -1.17933,0.51592c-0.33397,0.33267 -0.61055,0.80884 -0.84275,1.40377c-0.45922,1.18911 -0.74362,2.85964 -0.89755,4.86085c-0.15655,1.99729 -0.18263,4.32223 -0.11741,6.81118c-5.51835,2.26427 -16.7116,6.93857 -17.60916,7.98223c-1.19759,1.38937 -0.81143,2.98095 -0.32874,4.03902l18.39971,-3.74549c0.38616,4.88048 0.94192,9.7138 1.42461,13.50099c-1.80032,0.52703 -5.1609,1.56679 -5.85232,2.21255c-0.95496,0.88711 -0.95496,3.75718 -0.95496,3.75718l7.53,-0.61316c0.17743,1.23545 0.28701,1.95767 0.28701,1.95767l0.01304,0.06557l0.06002,0l0.13829,0l0.0574,0l0.01043,-0.06557c0,0 0.11218,-0.72222 0.28961,-1.95767l7.53164,0.61316c0,0 0,-2.87006 -0.95496,-3.75718c-0.69044,-0.64577 -4.05363,-1.68813 -5.85133,-2.21516c0.48009,-3.77545 1.03061,-8.58921 1.42198,-13.45404l18.18207,3.70115c0.48009,-1.05806 0.86881,-2.64965 -0.32617,-4.03902c-0.88969,-1.03062 -11.81147,-5.60054 -17.39409,-7.89352c0.06524,-2.52287 0.04175,-4.88024 -0.1148,-6.89989l0,-0.00476c-0.15655,-1.99844 -0.44094,-3.6683 -0.90277,-4.8561c-0.22699,-0.59493 -0.50356,-1.07111 -0.83754,-1.40377c-0.33658,-0.3326 -0.73578,-0.51592 -1.18194,-0.51592l0,0l-0.00001,0l0,0z')

transition(plane, route)
  }

function ready (error, topo, airports) {
    if (error) throw error

svg.append('g')
       .attr('class', 'states')
       .selectAll('path')
       .data(topojson.feature(topo, topo.objects.states).features)
       .enter()
       .append('path')
       .attr('d', path)

svg.append('g')
       .attr('class', 'airports')
       .selectAll('path')
       .data(topojson.feature(airports, airports.objects.airports).features)
       .enter()
       .append('path')
       .attr('id', (d) => d.id)
       .attr('d', path)

const geos = topojson.feature(airports, airports.objects.airports).features

geos.forEach(function (geo) {
      airportMap[geo.id] = geo.geometry.coordinates
    })

let start = 0
    function flyBatch (flightCnt = 30) {
      if ($flightmap.offset().top + $flightmap.height() < $(window).scrollTop()) return

let end = start + flightCnt
      const pairs = routes.slice(start, end)
      pairs.forEach((pair, idx) => {
        fly(pair[0], pair[1])
      })
      start = end
      // reset the flight loop
      if (pairs.length === 0) {
        start = 0
      }
    }

flyBatch(200)
    setInterval(flyBatch, 300)
  }

d3.queue()
    .defer(d3.json, 'https://nodeassets.nbcnews.com/cdnassets/projects/2017/08/airplane-mode/us-states.json')
    .defer(d3.json, 'https://nodeassets.nbcnews.com/cdnassets/projects/2017/08/airplane-mode/us-airports-major.topo02.json')
    .await(ready)
}

initMap('#flightMap')
  </script>
</body>

https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.4/jquery.min.js

https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/d3/4.10.2/d3.min.js

https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/topojson/3.0.2/topojson.min.js