Heading to the airport this week for the first time since the pandemic began 15 months ago?
Air travel will look different in some key ways because of COVID-19, but in others its very similar to summer 2019 as vaccinations increase and travel restrictions ease across the country.
Travelers taking off for the July Fourth holiday weekend will notice one thing the second they reach the airport curb: Crowds are back.
The number of people screened by the Transportation Security Administration at airports across the country has topped 2 million on 10 days in June, the first time that has happened since February 2020, and the numbers are expected to increase as the summer travel surge intensifies in July and August.
Travel volume fell below 100,000 passengers in the early months of the pandemic and didn’t top 1 million again until October.
Unfriendly skies:TSA resumes self-defense training amid uptick in unruly passengers
The increase in passengers means long lines are back from check-in through the security checkpoint, and social distancing is mostly a distant dream at the gate, during boarding and deplaning and in baggage claim.
6 things rusty travelers need to know about flying July 4th weekend
• Check, recheck and triple check your reservation and flight status. Airlines still adjusting to the travel resurgence have been changing their flight schedules, sometimes with little notice, frustrating travelers with itinerary changes including a stop where there was none or…
