Transportation Security Administration agents screened more than 2. 3 million passengers on Monday, surpassing the day in 2019.
It’s a sign that Thanksgiving travel week’s passenger volume is on track to surpass pre-pandemic levels for the first year since Covid-19 became a global physical health issue.
According to the agency’s data, 2,327,284 air passengers passed the airport’s security checkpoints yesterday. On the Monday before Thanksgiving 2019, 2,321,546 passengers were screened.
This 5700 difference would possibly seem small overall, but it would exceed passenger volume before the Thanksgiving pandemic is considered a vital step in the industry’s continued recovery.
Historically, Wednesday and Sunday, the day before Thanksgiving and the official weekend finale, have been the two busiest days during the holiday period, and are also expected to be high-volume days this year.
What’s different now, compared to 2019, is that millions more Americans are now running remotely, giving them the opportunity to make their time with family and friends bigger and the worst of airport crowds and crowded flights.
Moving dates can be paid in other ways. Travelers who decide to return from their midweek vacation after Thanksgiving can save up to $270 per ticket, according to booking app Hopconsistent.
Airlines and airports say they are more staffed and prepared to handle holiday crowds compared to last summer, when tens of thousands of delayed and canceled flights made headlines for “airport chaos. “
U. S. airlines offer 15 percent fewer domestic flights during the nine-day Thanksgiving travel era compared to 2019, according to Cirium data.
The reduced offer is one of the reasons why travelers pay particularly higher airfares than in previous years. According to Hopper, vacation airfares have been the most expensive in five years due to a combination of factors, including kerosene prices, shorter flight schedules and classic call for vacation travel.
For Thanksgiving, domestic airfares cost $350 on an average circular trip, up 22% from 2019 and up 43% from last year. $795 for a circular trip.
In anticipation of Christmas, flights are even more expensive. Hopper says round-trip domestic flights cost $463 on average, up 31% from 2019. International airfares will be $1,300 on average for a round-trip flight.