Air Travel Has Best Day Since March

Airline travel had its best day since the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the industry, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The TSA processed nearly 1 million passengers on Friday, September 4 – 968,673 to be exact – the first time since March 17 that the total number of passengers was above 900,000, according to the blog Airline Geeks.

That number still pales in comparison to the 2,198,828 that flew on Sept. 4 of last year but nonetheless represents a solid figure as airlines try to make a comeback.

In fact, the Labor Day weekend was a strong one for the airlines, which at one point were down 95 percent in total capacity compared to last year.

Between Thu and Mon, TSA screened 4.1M passengers— 41 percent of Thu – Mon traffic last year. Three of the 5 days saw more passengers than any day since March.

— Kelly Soderlund (@KellyLSoderlund) September 8, 2020

On Thursday, Sept. 3, there were 877,698 fliers. As for the rest of the week, passenger counts varied between 500,000 and 800,000 people. Predictably, the low came on a Tuesday at 516,068, while the weekend travel dates of Thursday, Friday and Sunday would take the top spots at over 700,000 passengers each day, according to the blog.