SFO Has Lost More Passengers than Any Other Airport in the U.S. Due to the Pandemic

Apr. 27—Even as a third of the U.S. population approaches full vaccination against the coronavirus, and air travel across the country enjoys a steady revival, one major airport is seeing a slower recovery than others: San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

A Chronicle analysis of Transportation Security Administration ( TSA) data shows that SFO has been slow to approach pre-pandemic passenger traffic compared with the 50 airports that saw the most traffic at the beginning of 2020. The data were collected and processed by Yale University professor Kevin Williams.

In early April, passenger volume flowing through SFO, though trending upward, was still about 60% below what it was on Feb. 1, 2020. At its lowest point since the beginning of the pandemic, in April last year, traffic was down almost 97% compared with that date.

Another major Bay Area hub, San Jose International Airport is also gaining back customers slowly, serving 53% fewer passengers in early April than it did before the pandemic. Oakland International Airport, which primarily hosts domestic flights, saw 28% fewer passengers in early April than it did prior to the pandemic. Oakland's decline resembled the national average.

One of the primary drivers of SFO's unusual decline was the acute decrease in international travel during the pandemic, according to SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel. In 2019, 26% of flights in and out of SFO were international, compared with 17% for all major airports in the U.S., according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

International travel has been slower to return than domestic travel. In January 2021, domestic passenger traffic across the U.S. was down 60% from the same time last year. Traffic on international flights was down 76%.

SFO officials predict that it may be four or five years before the airport has a passenger flow comparable to pre-pandemic levels, said Yakel.

SFO is looking for creative ways to increase travel through the airport. For example, the airport is doing a test run with Air France flights between SFO and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, where passengers use a mobile app to register the fact that they have been vaccinated, have antibodies or tested negative for the coronavirus 72 hours prior to travel.

Yakel said that testing and a digital health credential demonstrating vaccinations or negative coronavirus tests are likely to become a part of the travel experience in the months and years to come. "I think some type of industry standard needs to emerge, because more and more, that seems to be a key ingredient — especially in foreign markets where there are still heavy restrictions on travel — to unlocking more travel opportunities," said Yakel.

For the foreseeable future, travelers going through SFO and other airports across the country can expect to continue social distancing, wearing masks, encountering TSA agents in surgical masks and face shields, and walking between acrylic barriers, said TSA spokesperson Lorie Dankers.

The agency remains strict about its liquids rule — 3.4 oz. per item allowed on carry-ons — with one notable exception: hand sanitizer. For now, passengers may freely bring one 12 oz. container of hand sanitizer through checkpoints.

Abhinanda Bhattacharyya is a San Francisco Chronicle news developer, and Nami Sumida is a Chronicle data visualization developer. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @abhinanda_b, @Nami

___

(c)2021 the San Francisco Chronicle

Visit the San Francisco Chronicle at www.sfchronicle.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.