According to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) data, number of passengers being screened at U.S. airports has surpassed 1 million for 19 days in a row as of Monday, this marks the most prolonged travel rebound amid the pandemic.
Airlines have also seen an uptick in bookings, despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidance against non-essential travel.
American Airlines informed reporter that bookings are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels as more individuals get vaccinated.
The strongest travel demand is for domestic and short-haul worldwide travel. American stated that as of Friday, its seven-day moving average of net bookings — new trips minus cancellations — was at about 90% of bookings during the same period in 2019. American stated strong bookings should continue into the second quarter, which begins Thursday.
As a result, the airline expects to return most of its planes to service within the second quarter after grounding hundreds during the pandemic.
Other airlines, including Delta and Southwest, have reported that bookings started picking up around mid-February.
On Monday during a White House briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky made a renewed plea to avoid travel and to get vaccinated.
Walensky said she had a feeling of “impending doom,” and suggested that virus cases may soon spike in america as they have in several European nations.
“What we’re seeing now is extra travel than we saw throughout the pandemic, including the Christmas and New Yr’s holidays,” which were followed by surges in new cases, Walensky stated during the briefing. “I would just sort of reiterate the recommendations from CDC, saying please limit travel to essential travel for the time being.”
New reported cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have increased 18% in the past two weeks. Through Sunday, the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases stood at 63,239, up from 53,670 two weeks earlier, according to data from Johns Hopkins College.
However, deaths declined 29% over that same interval, to an average of 1,363 per day to 970 per day by Sunday.
