A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent wears a protective mask and stands behind a protective barrier while on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, a traveler at the Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
TSA officials on Friday selected 1,357,111 people at airports, the highest number of passengers in a single day since March 15, 2020.
The milestone reflects that air travel is starting to increase again after a challenging year for airlines caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Air travel in the United States reached a low point on April 14, 2020, with only 87,500 passengers passing through the TSA checkpoints. According to the TSA, travel for 2020 has decreased by more than 60% from the previous year to 324 million passengers. The TSA displays passengers at 440 US airports
The reduction in travel has hit airlines hard. US airlines collectively lost more than $ 35 billion last year due to low passenger traffic. Airlines had to turn off emergency flights, shut down seats and put in place safety measures in response to the pandemic.
Airline is hoping for a revival in the coming months with new cases of Covid-19 falling in a large part of the country and more people being vaccinated. Thirteen percent of American adults have been fully vaccinated since Friday.
Passengers were still 20% lower on Friday than the number of passengers on the same day last year, and almost 38% lower than in 2019.