Air travel is bouncing back ... sort of

Air travel is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. But it began bouncing back in May. The number of people passing through airport security checkpoints nearly doubled over the course of the month. The TSA says it screened nearly 949,000 passengers over the past weekend. It scanned 476,000 people over the first weekend in May. American Airlines (AAL) said more people travelled this past weekend than over Memorial Day, the start of the summer travel season.<br/>Although the increases are significant, the pandemic has dealt an unprecedented blow to the industry. During the busiest day in May, only 14% of travelers flew compared to the equivalent day in 2019. More passengers are also filing onto each flight. Domestic flights carried an average of 47 passengers each this weekend, up from an average of only 17 passengers at the beginning of May, according to Airlines for America. Those loads are unprofitable, so more passengers on flights means airlines will burn less cash with each takeoff and landing. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said Friday his company is anticipating "a brutal low-fare environment as there are far more airline seats right now — and there will be for some time — than there are customers." But increasingly full flights also present challenges for travelers to socially distance in small aircraft cabins. <br/>