US airport screenings near pandemic highs despite new virus fears

Despite several states reporting an increase in coronavirus cases and California intensive care units at zero capacity, the US TSA has screened nearly 4.2m holiday travelers at airports across the US since Friday, edging toward new highs since the pandemic began. This, as a new strain of coronavirus is causing renewed concerns across the globe. On Monday, the most recent day for which TSA traveler numbers are available, the total count of 954,782 is in sharp contrast to the 2.5mpeople screened at the same time last year. Still, this week’s numbers are much higher than in recent weeks, closing in on Thanksgiving’s robust travel. With many schools already on Christmas break this week, it is traditionally the busiest time for airlines. Holiday numbers are on tract to exceed the 10.5m who traveled in the 10 final days of November for Thanksgiving this year, despite repeated warnings from the CDC to avoid traveling during the global pandemic. “The last three reported TSA throughput days have exceeded 1m in passenger counts. Prior to this weekend, there were a total of four days when reported throughput exceeded 1m during the pandemic (one in October and three in November),” said Helane Becker, a senior research analyst at Cowen Equity Research. “We forecast a spike in travel ahead of Christmas as people want to see family and friends at Christmas, but are willing to miss them at Thanksgiving. We expect demand to remain relatively elevated through New Years.”<br/>