Though international borders are closed for non-essential travel, many are already flying domestic. Saturday marked the 10th straight day TSA recorded more than 1 million passengers flying. TSA reported 1.3 million travelers passing security checkpoints on Saturday. That’s a day after TSA recorded record its highest in the last 10 days at 1,468,516 passengers on Friday.
Though colleges canceled spring break, many still found a way to have their spring break. Some students took advantage of online classes to visit places like Miami.
It can be seen by airlines as a positive indication that they are slowly recovering from the pandemic. However, despite the uptick in domestic air travel, it only accounts for half of the air traffic in 2019.
Another thing that keeps airline companies optimistic about the coming months is the summer bookings. CEO of American Airlines Doug Parker said Monday that they are “very close to 2019 in total bookings”.
Airlines are expected to still report losses in the first quarter of the year. In 2020, airlines lost a combined $32 billion. On the other hand, investors are anticipating a spike in travel demand as shares from different airlines spiked above pre-pandemic levels. Shares of Southwest, Alaska Air, JetBlue, and Hawaiian Airlines are now doing better than their pre-pandemic levels. Only United Airlines is lower than its late January value.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned the public not to travel despite some Americans already received the vaccine. The agency has refused to release a new guideline since the US encountered travel-related surges in the past.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that they’ve dealt with a spike in cases during Christmas and after Labor Day. The CDC wants to have more Americans vaccinated before updating its guidelines. With more virulent variants, the number of daily COVID19 cases in the US climbed above 60,000 as the number approaches 30 million.
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