A surge in coronavirus cases across the majority of the country has lessened the desire to fly, leading to the lowest number of passengers screened at U.S. airports in the last five months.
The Transportation Security Administration said it screened just 501,513 flyers on Tuesday, Dec. 8, the lowest number of passengers to go through security since July 4, according to Reuters News Service.
That figure of just over a half-million passengers is off 74 percent compared to the same day last year, when the TSA screened 1.9 million travelers.
And it doesn't look like it will get better any time soon.
Speaking on CNBC, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said travel during the upcoming holiday season will be similar to numbers in recent weeks when traffic has hovered around one-third of normal levels.
"I don't see that changing for the next couple of months," he said.
However, he said there is "enormous pent-up demand" for spring travel, when there is a possibility that tens of millions of Americans will have been vaccinated and "ready to get on with their lives."
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