U.S. Sets Pandemic-Era Record for Air Travel
Americans are getting back on airplanes—and quickly.
According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), nearly 1.67 million people were screened at U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday, May 2 alone. That’s the highest number in a single day since Mar 12 of 2020, when travel rates began to plunge amid the growing threat of the pandemic.
U.S. air travel has been bouncing back since mid-February of this year, but the trend really picked up on March 11, when the TSA screened 1 million travelers in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began.
The TSA has not screened any less than 1 million travelers per day since then.
The increasing number of Americans boarding planes can be attributed in part to the growing availability of vaccines in the country, which is reportedly improving consumer confidence.
“It is a huge accomplishment to have three highly-effective COVID-19 vaccines in distribution throughout the U.S.,” Daniel Durazo, director of marketing and communications at Allianz Partners USA, said recently (via TravelPulse.com).
“Our survey finds that increased traveler confidence is a direct result of improved vaccine availability, and we are pleased to see how vaccines will impact the recovery of the travel industry and travelers’ vacation plans in 2021 and beyond.”
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) also recently updated its guidance on travel, suggesting that it’s safe for fully vaccinated Americans to travel domestically, which is also likely to have boosted consumer confidence.
While Sunday’s new record is a promising sign for the travel industry, however, it’s worth noting that the 1.67 million figure is still 35% below the number of airport travelers reported on the corresponding Sunday in 2019, before the pandemic took hold—so there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
That being said, all the signs continue to point to an imminent travel boom.
