Pandemic has set the number of air travelers back decades

[Fishrrman]

https://apnews.com/05ce7d3272bc383914a8985884be6d7e

Pandemic has set the number of air travelers back decades
By DAVID KOENIG
April 9, 2020

The number of Americans getting on airplanes has sunk to a level not seen in more than 60 years as people shelter in their homes to avoid catching or spreading the new coronavirus.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 94,931 people on Wednesday, a drop of 96% from a year ago and the second straight day under 100,000.

The official tally of people who passed through TSA checkpoints exaggerates the number of travelers – if that is possible – because it includes some airline crew members and people still working at shops inside airport security perimeters.

Historical daily numbers only go back so far, but the nation last averaged fewer than 100,000 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.

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[Smokin Joe]

I remember the big four engine prop airliners, taking off from Washington National Airport as a kid (Dad took us up there to see them, and I have loved planes ever since.)

Much has changed.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Yet I bet not a single person has been laid off in TSA in spite of the +90% decline in people going thru the lines.

As I understand it, airlines and passenger pay at least partially for those services.

Yet United is losing $100 million a month.

Madness that Trump needs to change.