The number of American travellers has dwindled to an all time low during the current pandemic, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening fewer than 100,000 people on April 7, a drop of 95 per cent from a year ago, said a report.

 

Historical daily numbers only go back so far, but the nation averaged 97,000 passengers a day in 1954, according to figures from trade group Airlines for America. It was the dawn of the jet age. The de Havilland Comet, the first commercial jetliner, was just a few years old, and Boeing was running test flights with the jet that would become the iconic 707, said an abc News report.

 

TSA, which was created after the 9/11 attacks, has been chronicling the plunge in air traffic, posting numbers on how many people its officers screen each day. On March 1, it was nearly 2.3 million — almost the same as a year earlier. The one-way roller coaster ride — a sheer downward scream — began in the second week of March and slowed only in the last several days, when there wasn’t much more room to drop, the report said.

 

Some of the people still traveling are health care professionals on their way to pandemic hot spots such as New York, where they will help in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. A few are traveling to be with family.

 

Airlines have drastically cut the number of flights to match demand and save cash, but even with far fewer flights, most seats are empty.

 

United Airlines says it is losing $100 million a day. Delta Air Lines says it is burning through $60 million a day. All the leading US carriers have applied for federal grants to cover payroll costs through September and some are likely to seek federal loans or loan guarantees.

 

The recovery in air travel — whenever it occurs — could depend on many factors including social-distancing rules and the state of the economy, which is staggering with 10 million people filing new claims for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks, the report said.