Airline passengers wearing face masks arrive and depart from D Concousre at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport on Tuesday, June 30, 2020.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call | fake pictures
More travelers traveled to heaven over the July 4 weekend, but airlines still face insignificant demand compared to last summer due to the pandemic.
An average of 661,811 people a day passed through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in the first five days of July, a jump of more than 90% compared to the same period last month and more than five times the number Recorded during the first five days of April, TSA data released Monday showed.
TSA holiday weekend traffic has decreased more than 72% from the same period in 2019, underscoring the airlines’ struggle to attract travelers amid this summer’s pandemic, generally the peak period of travel.
American Airlines, for example, carried around 211,000 passengers on July 2, its busiest day since March, but the Fort Worth-based airline carried more than 600,000 travelers per day over the holiday weekend last year.
Airlines have taken a number of steps to encourage reservations, such as exemption from exchange fees if customers choose to forego travel this summer as coronavirus cases increase and travel next year.
Major U.S. airlines are also requiring travelers to wear masks during their flights and have threatened to ban customers who refuse to comply. There are some exceptions, such as if a passenger has a medical problem or is eating or drinking.
Some airlines, including Delta and Southwest, have been limiting the number of seats they sell on flights so that space travelers get more out on their planes. Other airlines, such as American and United, are not blocking the seats, but instead say they notify travelers if the plane is filling up.
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