SEATAC, Wash. — Last Wednesday marked the biggest travel day of the pandemic, with more than a million people passing through TSA checkpoints across the country.
It’s a big jump over the typical numbers we’ve seen during the pandemic, but more than a 50% decline since last year.
Usually, the Sunday after Thanksgiving is even busier at airports around the country, setting records for TSA screenings nationwide in 2019. As we wait on final numbers, it’s clear almost nothing seems normal compared to recent years.
“I thought it was going to be crowded because it was Thanksgiving week that people be flying through, but no,” Alaska resident Mike Lindgren said at Seatte-Tacoma International Airport.
Just to get some turkey time with the family, travelers like Cody Voyce will now deal with the possibility of COVID-19 tests and quarantines.
“I haven't taken the test yet, but when I get home I'll be taking a few just to be sure,” Voyce said.
Voyce attends school in Phoenix and said his school has several safeguards and they do regular temperature checks.
“If we feel any weird way, we stay home for two weeks and do online classes as normal but our school is more hands-on and we have to go in a certain amount of time,” Voyce explained.
Lindgren and his wife, Jill, were tested before they left Alaska.
“We've had to fly quite a bit and it's all been good we always get tested when we go home,” she said.
Most travelers seemed happy with the steps the airlines and airports have taken to keep travelers safe.
“There are some people not wearing masks and I feel like that should be more kind of reprimanded but otherwise I feel like everything was good,” Keaton Marsh said.
There's no doubt the numbers were way down from last year around the airport but will that bring COVID numbers down? The impact on coronavirus case numbers might not be known for some time.