The Transportation Security Administration said early Thursday that Thanksgiving eve passenger numbers at checkpoints across the United States were at just under half of what they were on Thanksgiving eve last year.
As the pandemic slows air travel around the globe, additional guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention seems to have possibly made holiday travelers hesitate even more this year before taking a flight.
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the CDC recommended that people reconsider travel this year and avoid large gatherings of 10 or more.
TSA spokesperson Lisa Farbstein announced that as of Thanksgiving eve, on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the TSA had screened 1,070,967 people at checkpoints nationwide. That number comes in at less than half that of last year when, according to the TSA, 2,602,631 people were screened at checkpoints across the country on Thanksgiving eve.
Despite this, 2020's Thanksgiving eve passenger numbers were still at the highest volume since March 16, according to the TSA. The agency noted that this is only the 4th time that passenger numbers this year have topped 1 million since March 16.
