Despite Rising COVID Cases, U.S. Air Travel Climbs to New Heights

12/16/2020 07:04 PM (update 08/09/2023 05:57 AM)

Airlines have undoubtedly taken a massive hit during the COVID-19 pandemic -- and some even warned that holiday demand was likely to be weak this year. But it's now become clear that many Americans are all too willing to get on a plane, despite the fact that coronavirus cases are very much on the rise nationwide. Air transportation is often the best option for perishable goods with a time-sensitive delivery schedule, but it's also the preferred choice for many human passengers -- especially when the fall and winter holidays roll around. Even though many airlines anticipated that they'd fall well short of their goals due to growing health concerns, it turns out that many people are a lot less scared of viral transmission than many thought. In the average year, around 24,883,000 hours of general aviation flight take place. This year, because of the coronavirus health crisis, air travel all but came to a standstill. And although bookings had been picking up in recent weeks, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all made statements that hinted at an influx of cancelations for holiday travel. Those cancelations, they said, were largely due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases nationwide and the urging of public health officials to scrap holiday plans. In the U.S., the average hospital stay costs over $10,700 -- and since many healthcare facilities are already at capacity, it's understandable that experts are stressing the importance of staying home in an effort to stop the spread and the overwhelm of the system. While many Americans may be taking heed, others have no intention of changing their plans for Thanksgiving. In fact, the Transportation Security Administration screened over 1 million people traveling through U.S. airports on Friday, November 20 and just under 1 million travelers the next day. Although that represents only 42% of the volume of passengers screened at U.S. airports during the same weekend in 2019, they marked two out of three of the busiest days at U.S. airports since mid-March of this year. In spite of cancelation worries and health warnings, the airline industry as a whole is understandably preparing for its busiest week since the beginning of the pandemic. It's likely that airplane travel will continue to increase throughout the week, although weekend travel tends to be the most popular. Health officials may be issuing statements to encourage Americans to stay home, but whether the public will listen is a very different story. We may soon see how increased travel and larger gatherings will impact the ever-growing case number nationwide.