9.4 Million Passengers During Thanksgiving Week Set Pandemic-Era Airport Records
Nearly 10 million people hopped on planes during the 10-day Thanksgiving period that ended Sunday, including four days with more than 1 million passengers and some of the busiest travel days of the COVID-19 era.
Numbers may have been even higher if not for a wave of warnings from federal and state officials about gathering for Thanksgiving amid a surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide.
Still, some 1.18 million people traveled through TSA checkpoints on Sunday, the most since March, the agency reported Monday. A total of 9.4 million people went through TSA checkpoints between Nov. 20 and 29.
However, traffic was still down about 60 percent compared to a year ago, according to the security screening agency.
Even after the busy holiday period, the industry was preparing for a disappointing finish to the year.
On Monday, JetBlue warned that fourth-quarter revenue would be lower than expected because “booking trends remain volatile and that the Company continues to believe demand and revenue recovery will be non-linear through the fourth quarter and beyond,” the airline said in a financial disclosure.
Dallas-based Southwest sent a similar warning earlier this month.
For North Texas’ airports, DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field, Thanksgiving week was the first major test of the pandemic.
Smooth weather helped Dallas Love Field move passengers through with the exception of Tuesday night’s storm that resulted in a tornado touching down in Arlington. But even that only caused brief delays, said Love Field spokesman Chris Perry.
Love Field welcomed about 175,000 passengers a day either taking off, landing or transferring through the Dallas airport.
“Thanksgiving travel at DAL went very smoothly from an operational perspective,” Perry said in an email. “The week was the first big test of our new normal and we’re happy with how it went.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued stark warnings earlier this month about traveling and family gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday as reports of new cases spiked heading into the winter months. The U.S. has recorded more than 1.1 million new reported cases in the last seven days, according to the CDC, and hospitals in North Texas and nationwide say hospital rooms are reaching capacity.
Air travel wasn’t the only mode of transportation dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Americans took about 35% fewer road trips over the Thanksgiving holiday, according to travel-tracking website Arrivalist.
Road trips of 50 miles or more dropped by 30.5% in Texas, the company said.
“Travel by private car—generally regarded as one of the safest and most available means of leisure travel during the pandemic—had begun establishing itself as a leading indicator of travel’s rebound,” said a statement from Arrivalist CEO Cree Lawson. “That appears to have taken a back seat to people’s desire to protect themselves and each other from a surge of Covid-19 cases.”
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