DALLAS — At this time last year, travel has bottomed out across the country with just over 150,000 people passing through Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport checkpoints.
That number has grown ten-fold over the past 12 months, as numbers in March 2021 have rebounded significantly. However, compared to two years ago pre-pandemic, traveler numbers are lagging by almost a million.
Editor's note: The above video is from March 15.
Compare March 29, for example. On Monday, around 1.41 million people traveled through TSA checkpoints. In 2020, the total was 154,080 travelers. Two years ago, it was 2.36 million.
Here's a look at TSA numbers for the last 10 days, as compared to 2020 and 2019:
On Monday, the TSA reported its 19th straight day of more than 1 million travelers passing through its airport checkpoints. And on March 21, more than 1.5 million people went checkpoints for the first time since mid-March 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning to hit hard in the U.S.
These numbers are a positive sign for the airline industry, hard hit by COVID-19.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines this week said bookings are back at nearly pre-pandemic levels and it expects to bring back most of its grounded planes by the early summer.
However, public health officials are urging caution for a public tired of isolation and encouraged by vaccinations.
Officials including the director of the Centers for Disease Control have expressed concern in recent days that travel could spark a new surge in COVID-19 cases, which have been rising in parts of the U.S. in recent weeks.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned of a potential “fourth surge” of the virus and spoke of a “recurring feeling ... of impending doom.”
President Joe Biden has joined the plea, saying the virus will get worse, not better “if we let our guard down now.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.