Air travel was down about 77 percent on Christmas Day from last year, with 616,469 people flying on Friday, but expected to swing back up as travelers return from their holiday destinations, according to CNN Business.
The Transportation Security Administration said 616,469 people flew on Christmas Day, about 23 percent of the number of passengers who took to the skies the previous year. Shoulder days showed significantly higher traffic, with 1.2 million flying on Wednesday and 846,520 on Thursday, Christmas Eve, according to CNN.
Sunday was expected to be far busier, with around 7 million people expected to board planes.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control urged Americans to avoid traveling during the holidays to help curb the spread of COVID-19 amid a second major surge of the disease.
“We need to try to bend the curve, stop this exponential increase, and so we’re really asking the American public to prevent these infections and avoid travel and wash their hands, wear a mask and maintain distance,” Dr. Henry Walke, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, said recently, according to CNN.
The airline industry has been hard hit by the ongoing pandemic, forcing most major carriers to lay off or furlough thousands of workers.
Last week, United Airlines said they would be able to recall furloughed workers through March because of provisions included in the recently passed COVID-19 economic relief package.
Under the bill, Congress earmarked $15 billion for air carriers under the Payroll Support Program. The funds will allow United and American Airlines to rehire the more than 32,000 workers furloughed this fall and keep them on the payroll through March.
Meanwhile, state health officials have also been discouraging people from traveling during the holidays.
More states are imposing the most stringent restrictions on gatherings since the early days of the pandemic, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Wednesday (Dec. 23).
Officials are asking the public to avoid gatherings and travel in order to curb a surge in cases brought on by the holiday.
“We can’t let up now,” Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary of health in Pennsylvania, told WSJ. “We need to continue all our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in a very vulnerable time.”
A recent survey showed that while almost half of Americans (46 percent) intend to travel for the December holidays, 66 percent planned to do it by car, according to press release from online automotive marketplace and solutions firm Cars.com.
The holiday poll by Cars.com queried over 1,000 Americans regarding their December travel intentions and contrasted the results with the 2020 Cars.com Thanksgiving travel survey.
“Many people are staying home for the holidays as suspected, and those who are traveling will continue to rely on their personal vehicle,” Cars.com Editor-in-Chief Jenni Newman said in the press release. “For most holiday travelers, the decision to drive is no longer primarily influenced by cost or convenience, but safety and security.”
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