The Transportation Security Administration screened less than half the number of people during the week of Christmas this year than it did the year before.
From Dec. 19 through Christmas Day this year, the TSA screened an average of 962,749 per day with three days, Dec. 19, 20, and Wednesday, exceeding 1 million people. Comparatively, during the same time period in 2019, the TSA screened an average of 2,364,475, with no day dropping below 1.9 million people screened.
Airlines have been one of the hardest-hit industries by the coronavirus pandemic amid the lack of travelers and federal support. In September, airlines laid off tens of thousands of workers. However, they are expected to receive roughly $15 billion for payrolls in the relief package Congress passed and that President Trump has yet to sign.
The drop in TSA screenings from 2019 to 2020 is an improvement on the total number of screenings happening in 2020 in comparison to much of this year. Screenings on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve, reached 1,191,123, the highest number dating back to March 16, during the beginning of the pandemic.
In that time, there have been only nine days where the number of people screened exceeded a million. Between March and December 2019, there were fewer than 30 days that had less than 2 million passengers screened on a given day.
Health and government officials are warning that holiday travel and large in-person gatherings will exacerbate an already critical situation as the number of cases continues to balloon despite vaccine distribution starting. The United States has seen over 18 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 330,000 deaths attributed to the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
