Air Travel Has Best Day Since March

Image: PHOTO: TSA PreCheck lane at Reagan National Airport. (photo via David Tran/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Image: PHOTO: TSA PreCheck lane at Reagan National Airport. (photo via David Tran/iStock Editorial/Getty Images Plus)
Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 1:01 PM ET, Tue September 8, 2020

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.

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.


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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