Passengers at Miami International Airport
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
US trips reached a new pandemic high on Sunday and were able to limit an increase in holiday demand despite new Covid-19 infection rates.
More than 1.3 million people passed the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at US airports on Sunday. However, 55% of the 2.4 million people TSA screened a year earlier was still its highest volume since March 15.
Air traffic increased over Christmas and New Years, despite health officials warning to avoid travel to curb the spread of Covid-19. December was the deadliest month in the US for the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a White House advisor and one of the country’s foremost infectious disease specialists, warned of a further surge in Covid-19 infections after the holidays.
Air traffic is still around half last year’s levels, and airline executives have warned that off-peak holiday demand will decline.
Vaccines have sparked optimism about a recovery, but when travelers will return en masse is still unclear.
“As difficult as 2020 was, I assume that the next 12 months will be even more challenging in many ways,” wrote Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, to employees on New Year’s Day. “Just as we have never had a global pandemic in our history, we never had to create and execute a plan to recover from one. We will build a new delta that will focus on medical and economic recovery that isn’t gives.” still taking shape. “
Comments are closed.