The airline industry’s recovery from the pandemic passed a milestone as more than 2 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints on Friday 10 June for the first time since early March 2020.
The #ArrivalRevival is happening, as the Transportation Security Administration announced Saturday that 2.03 million travellers were screened at U.S. airport checkpoints on Friday, marking the first time in 15 months that the number of security screenings has surpassed 2 million in a single day.
Airline bookings have been picking up since around February, as more Americans were vaccinated against COVID-19 and – at least within the United States – travel restrictions such as mandatory quarantines began to ease.
The recovery is not complete just yet. Friday’s crowds were only 74% of the volume compared to the same day in 2019. However, the 2.03 million figure was 1.5 million more travelers than the same day last year, according to the TSA.
However, it’s a great sign of things to come as the 2-million mark represents quite a turnaround for the travel industry, which was hammered by the pandemic.
There were days in April 2020 when fewer than 100,000 people boarded planes in the U.S., and the CEO of Boeing predicted that at least one major U.S. airline would go bankrupt.
Most of the airlines are still losing money, but the fear of large-scale furloughs has lifted.
Prior to the pandemic, TSA screened on average 2 million to 2.5 million travelers per day. The lowest screening volume during the pandemic was on April 13, 2020, when just 87,534 individuals were screened at airport security checkpoints.
By the middle of last month, TSA’s average daily volume for screenings was approximately 65% of pre-pandemic levels.
As the summer travel season approaches, TSA is advising passengers to arrive at the airport with sufficient time to accommodate increased screening time as traveler volumes are expected to approach and in some cases exceed pre-pandemic levels at certain airports.
Source: AAP