TSA Records Highest Passenger Volume Since March 2020

More signs of the travel industry’s slow, but steady, rebound are showing up everywhere.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Friday screened 1.37 million people, the highest number of passengers screened on a single day since March 15 of last year and well off the COVID-19 low of 87,500 passengers from April 14, 2020.

Friday also marked the second of four straight days that the TSA screened more than a million passengers in a single day—Saturday, March 13 saw the TSA screen 1.22 million, and Sunday, March 14 saw 1.34 million.

While the increase is good news for the industry, there is still room to grow. The 1.37 million from Friday was still well below the 2.5 million passengers that the TSA screened during the same day in 2019.

The boost comes as more and more Americans get access to COVID-19 vaccines. More than 10% of the total U.S. Population is already fully vaccinated for COVID-19 as of last week, according to the CDC. And right now the country is averaging 2 million shots per day, well above estimates from earlier in the year.

President Biden last week also announced that the federal government will be opening up vaccination eligibility to all U.S. adults starting in May, meaning that all adults who want a vaccine should be able to get one, according to the Federal Government, ahead of the summer.

And while Americans are getting vaccinated, travel demand is going up.

According to the latest American Express Travel: Global Travel Trends Report, which surveyed 1,000 travelers in Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Mexico, and the UK and 2,000 in the U.S. between January 15 and 24.

The report found that an overwhelming majority (87%) of people said that having a trip planned in the future gives them something to look forward to. People are finding hope and comfort in thinking about and even planning future trips, with 78% of respondents indicate wanting to travel in 2021 to relieve the stresses from 2020.