On 7th April 2019, one year ago, more than 2.1 million travellers passed through TSA checkpoints in US airports.
On 7th April 2020, 97,130 travellers were screened.
More than 2 million travellers are staying away from US airports every day, as the coronavirus pandemic shuts down borders and airports globally.
Graph: Ted Perton
How few passengers is that? An average of 220 passengers per airport across the country. The TSA screens passengers at 440 airports across America.
TSA officers are also being hit hard by the virus themselves, with 47 testing positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks. One officer at Newark New Jersey Airport also tragically died of coronavirus last week.
“This is the first time it’s dipped lower than 100,000 during the pandemic. Yes, it’s a record low.”
Lisa Farbstein, TSA spokeswoman
Domestic travel has slowed across America amid the coronavirus outbreak, with individual states varying social distance guidelines also throwing air travel into uncertainty.
Sources: USA Today, The Washington Post, and TSA Media Office