Airport screenings top 1 million for first time since March

More than 1 million passengers were screened at U.S. airports on Sunday, the first time the threshold has been reached in seven months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that it screened 1,031,505 people at security checkpoints nationwide on Sunday. That amount is 60 percent lower than this time a year ago.

BREAKING NEWS: @TSA screened 1,031,505 people at security checkpoints nationwide yesterday, Sunday, Oct. 18. It’s the first time volume topped 1 million since the pandemic low point of April 14, when 87,534 people were screened. It’s still 60% lower throughput than one year ago.

— Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) October 19, 2020

The last time TSA screened more than 1 million passengers was on March 17, according to the agency. The lowest point for TSA screenings during the pandemic was on April 14, when 87,534 people went through checkpoints. 

On Saturday, TSA screened nearly 789,000 people, which was about 19,000 more than one week earlier. Saturday’s total was roughly 62 percent lower than a year ago.

On Friday, TSA screened just over 973,000 people.

Prior to the pandemic, U.S. airlines were transporting 2.5 million passengers and 58,000 tons of cargo each day, according to industry group Airlines for America.

Net booked revenue for U.S. airlines is currently down 80 percent and carriers are collectively burning more than $5 billion of cash a month.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby last week said that he doesn’t expect the demand for business travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.