Jul 5, 2022 - Economy

July 4 weekend travel numbers rival 2019

Travelers make their way through a TSA screening line.

Travelers make their way through a TSA screening line. Photo: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

American travelers didn't let flight delays or cancellations stop them from flying over July 4 weekend.

Driving the news: New data from the Transportation Security Administration show that close to 9 million people traveled over the Fourth of July weekend, rivaling numbers from 2019.

  • In fact, TSA numbers show that more people went through checkpoints on July 1, 2022, than on the same day in 2019 — before the coronavirus pandemic. The same was true on June 30.
  • 2022 numbers are well ahead of all 2020 numbers, given summer 2020 was in the middle of the pandemic.
  • That said, July 4, 2021, had more travelers than the same day this year (2.1 million compared to 2.08 million), according to TSA.

The big picture: The high travel numbers come despite Americans facing a number of issues on the home front, including several flight disruptions and cancellations, NBC News reports.

  • Airfare is higher than in previous years too. Data from Hopper show that airfare is currently around $360 per ticket on average. That number was below $350 in 2018 and 2019, per NBC News.

The bottom line: The busy travel weekend is a sign that a summer of "revenge travel" has begun in the United States, making up for the cancellations from the pandemic, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.

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