US reports 2.2 million passengers at US airports, highest since Covid

WASHINGTON, D.C.: On November 19, 2.24 million airport passengers were screened by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, representing the highest single-day since before the start of the Covid pandemic.

On Twitter, TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein called the high volume of passengers the "highest checkpoint volume" since March 2020, when travel and business came to a halt.

Also this week, the TSA said it expected to screen some 20 million air passengers during the Thanksgiving travel period - from Nov. 19 to Nov. 28, anticipating that volumes would be close to before the pandemic began.

Delta Air Lines officials said it expects to fly up to 5.6 million passengers from Friday through Nov. 30, an increase of 300 percent over 2020's 2.2 million Delta passengers for the Thanksgiving period.

United Airlines said it plans to carry more than 4.5 million passengers during the Thanksgiving travel period, representing about 88 percent of 2019 volume.

Also last week, the Biden administration ended travel restrictions for fully vaccinated air travelers from 33 countries, including China, South Africa, Brazil and much of Europe.