US: Thanksgiving air travel rebounds, nearly hitting 2019 levels.

Thanksgiving air travel did not reach the record highs of 2019, but it was close. About 2.3 million people passed through TSA checkpoints on Wednesday, more travelers than on any other day during the pandemic. This figure was more than twice as many travelers as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year. This year’s total was about 88% of the travelers that flew on that same Wednesday in 2019. Social media was abuzz with nearly equal complaints about the longest airport lines people had experienced in years and surprise that lines were so short, reinforcing the idea pandemic unpredictability persists. Hundreds of airport food service workers picketed on Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport over a dispute involving health care. But contrary to some passengers’ fears — and warnings from the Southwest Airlines pilots union in August — there were no walkouts by flight attendants or pilots on Wednesday. Amid concerns that passengers would get aggressive with flight attendants and pick fights about masks — issues throughout the pandemic — Attorney General Merrick B. Garland urged federal prosecutors to prioritize the prosecution of passengers that commit assault or other crimes on board.<br/>