Travelers Flock to Airports Despite Pleas From Health Officials

Overall travel was lighter than last year before the coronavirus pandemic struck

Published November 27, 2020 • Updated on November 27, 2020 at 4:46 pm

Travelers check in with TSA at O'Hare International Airport on November 25, 2020, in Chicago, Illinois. Although airports are expecting fewer than half the number of travelers from Thanksgiving 2019, they are anticipating the largest number of travelers since March when the COVID-19 pandemic became widespread in the United States. — Scott Olson/Getty Images

Even as the number of COVID-19 cases soar, more people in the United States traveled by plane on the day before Thanksgiving than any day since March.

On Wednesday 1,070,967 people went through TSA checkpoints, according to figures from the Transportation Security Administration. In all 6.8 million people headed to airports across the country in the week leading up to Thanksgiving day despite pleas from public health officials that they stay home.

Still, Wednesday’s figure is less than half as many of the 2.6 million who traveled the day before Thanksgiving in 2019.