The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2 million people at U.S. airports on Sunday, the highest number since before Covid-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020.
The increase is welcome news for airlines, hotels and other travel businesses that were devastated by the virus, travel restrictions and quarantines.
The TSA screened nearly 2.1 million people on Sunday the most since March 7, 2020. That is still close to 545,000 fewer people compared with the same day in 2019, as business and international travel are still depressed. Airline executives have said that is improving but that it will take longer to recover than domestic leisure travel, which is fueling the rebound.
The agency screened just over 2 million people on Friday, about 74% of the number that passed through TSA airport checkpoints compared with two years earlier.
The increase in travelers is boosting the price of travel from airfares, to hotel rates to car rental prices.