TSA Records Highest Number of Airport Travelers Since Start of Pandemic over Memorial Day Weekend

Travelers are pouring back into airports across the United States as the TSA reported a record number of passengers over Memorial Day Weekend.

According to the agency's through-put statistics, the TSA screened more than 7.1 million people from Thursday to Monday — its highest traffic numbers since March 2020.

Friday was the highest single travel day since the pandemic began, with more than 1.96 million people screened. Both Saturday and Sunday saw more than 1.6 million travelers each day. On Monday, the numbers rose again to more than 1.9 million travelers.

The number of travelers going through TSA has been steadily growing over the past few months. In early May, the TSA reported a pandemic record of 1.6 million travelers in a single day.

The increased air travel numbers reflect an increase in the number of vaccinated Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker, about 62% of American adults have received one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 51% are fully vaccinated.

The country is also reporting its lowest COVID-19 numbers since the start of the pandemic. The seven-day average of new daily cases is about 18,900, the lowest since the pandemic emerged in March 2020, CNBC reported.

Some COVID-19 protocols remain in place at airports around the country including the federal mask mandate in place until September which requires travelers to wear a face mask on all public transportation.

More than 37 million people were expected to journey more than 50 miles from home, be that by car or airplane, according to the AAA travel forecast shared with T+L. The top destinations to hop a flight to included Orlando, Las Vegas, and Honolulu.

Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.

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