Sunday Marked the Busiest Day of Air Travel in Weeks

With lock-down orders and travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, air travel has plunged 96% in recent weeks. On March 1st for example, 2,280,522 people passed through TSA checkpoints, including workers and crew members. That was still about the same as the same day the year prior, and it was before the federal government and states got serious about restrictions.

Fast-forward six weeks, and on April 14th only 87,534 people passed through TSA checkpoints. That was the slowest day for air travel and an incredible drop of 96.2%.

But the travel industry got some good news on Sunday. April 26th marked the busiest day for air travel in the last three week. 128,875 travelers and crew passed through TSA checkpoints, about a 50% increase from the lowest point. However, that is still almost 95% down from a year ago.

The Association of Flight Attendants is not happy about people resuming travel just yet. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar, it is calling on the government “to mandate masks in aviation for crew, employees and passengers; require personal protective equipment; and suspend all leisure travel until the virus is contained.”

TSA checkpoint travel numbers for 2020 and 2019

Date	Total Traveler Throughput	Total Traveler Throughput (1 Year Ago – Same Weekday)
4/28/2020	110,913	2,102,068
4/27/2020	119,854	2,412,770
4/26/2020	128,875	2,506,809
4/25/2020	114,459	1,990,464
4/24/2020	123,464	2,521,897
4/23/2020	111,627	2,526,961
4/22/2020	98,968	2,254,209
4/21/2020	92,859	2,227,475
4/20/2020	99,344	2,594,171
4/19/2020	105,382	2,356,802
4/18/2020	97,236	1,988,205
4/17/2020	106,385	2,457,133
4/16/2020	95,085	2,616,158
4/15/2020	90,784	2,317,381
4/14/2020	87,534	2,208,688
4/13/2020	102,184	2,484,580
4/12/2020	90,510	2,446,801
4/11/2020	93,645	2,059,142
4/10/2020	108,977	2,590,499
4/9/2020	104,090	2,487,398
4/8/2020	94,931	2,229,276
4/7/2020	97,130	2,091,056
4/6/2020	108,310	2,384,091
4/5/2020	122,029	2,462,929
4/4/2020	118,302	2,011,715
4/3/2020	129,763	2,476,884
4/2/2020	124,021	2,411,500
4/1/2020	136,023	2,151,626
3/31/2020	146,348	2,026,256
3/30/2020	154,080	2,360,053
3/29/2020	180,002	2,510,294
3/28/2020	184,027	2,172,920
3/27/2020	199,644	2,538,384
3/26/2020	203,858	2,487,162
3/25/2020	239,234	2,273,811
3/24/2020	279,018	2,151,913
3/23/2020	331,431	2,434,370
3/22/2020	454,516	2,542,643
3/21/2020	548,132	2,227,181
3/20/2020	593,167	2,559,307
3/19/2020	620,883	2,513,231
3/18/2020	779,631	2,320,885
3/17/2020	953,699	2,177,929
3/16/2020	1,257,823	2,465,709
3/15/2020	1,519,192	2,545,742
3/14/2020	1,485,553	2,274,658
3/13/2020	1,714,372	2,634,215
3/12/2020	1,788,456	2,503,924
3/11/2020	1,702,686	2,187,298
3/10/2020	1,617,220	2,122,898
3/9/2020	1,909,363	2,378,673
3/8/2020	2,119,867	2,485,430
3/7/2020	1,844,811	2,156,262
3/6/2020	2,198,517	2,543,689
3/5/2020	2,130,015	2,402,692
3/4/2020	1,877,401	2,143,619
3/3/2020	1,736,393	1,979,558
3/2/2020	2,089,641	2,257,920
3/1/2020	2,280,522	2,301,439