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Bloomberg
US airlines carried an average of more than 1 million passengers a day in the past week, the highest non-holiday total since the Covid-19 pandemic began gutting travel demand in the countryalmost a year ago.
The total of 1.28 million was the third highest since travel collapsed in mid-March 2020, according to data reported by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The airline industry remains severely depressed compared to before the pandemic erupted. Passenger volumes in the past week were 56% below the equivalent week in 2019, the most recent period that wasn’t depressed by the coronavirus, according to the Airlines for America trade group.
That number has crept up, but only slowly. In the week ended February 28, passengers were 57% below pre-pandemic levels, according to A4A.
More than 1 million people passed through US airport security screening in four of the past seven days, according to TSA. The only equivalent periods with that many fliers since March 17, 2020, have been during the traditionally busy Thanksgiving and Christmas periods.
The increase tracks a seasonal pattern of growing travel that occurs in March each year when many schools are on spring break, according to A4A data.