It looks like air travel in the United States is finally recovering.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it screened 1.34 million people at American airports last Friday (March 12), marking the highest number of passengers traveling by air on a single day since March 15, 2020.
The milestone shows that air travel is starting to pick up again after a challenging year for airlines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Air travel in the U.S. hit a low point on April 14, 2020, with only 87,500 passengers going through TSA checkpoints.
Travel for all of 2020 was down more than 60% from the previous year to 324 million passengers, according to the TSA. The TSA screens passengers at 440 airports throughout the U.S.
The reduction in travel has hit airlines hard. U.S. airlines lost more than $35 billion combined last year because of low passenger traffic. Airlines were forced to slash flights, block off seats, and implement safety measures in response to the pandemic.
Airlines are hoping for a travel revival in the coming months with new COVID-19 cases dropping in much of the country and more people getting vaccinated. In all, 13% of American adults had been fully vaccinated as of last Friday.
