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Air travel is recovering more quickly across the United States from the depths of the pandemic. It is showing up in long airport security lines and busier traffic on airline websites. The US Transportation Security Administration screened at least 1.3 million people on Friday and Sunday. It sets a new high since the coronavirus outbreak destroyed travel activities a year ago. Most airlines believe the numbers are heading up with more people booking flights for spring and summer. On Monday, the CEO of American Airlines, Doug Parker said, “Our last three weeks have been the best three weeks since the pandemic hit, and each week has been better than the one prior”. Travelers and the airlines still have far to go before again hitting the heights they experienced in 2019.

However, the number of people passing through airport checkpoints on Sunday finally eclipsed the number on the same day last year. It was a first for the pandemic era and was still down 45.5% from the same day in 2019. Parker said American’s bookings are now running just 20% below 2019 levels. A factor appears to be traveler confidence now that more people are getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that around 70 million Americans or 21% have received at least one dose and 37 million have completed their vaccination. On Monday, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian said that bookings began picking up 5or 6 weeks ago. Air travel has picked up a few times since the pandemic hit, mostly around holidays.

Bastian said during the JP Morgan investor conference that the recovery seems like it’s real at this time. The CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby said his airline will generate core cash instead of burning cash for March. He also expects the positive trend to continue in the months ahead. The CEO of Southwest Airlines, Gary Kelly said during a Washington Post webcast that his airline could break even by June, where you have had much of the population vaccinated. The Southwest also said in a regulatory filing that March and April will be better than expected as passenger traffic and fares rise. The airline said people are booking leisure trips to beach and mountain destinations, however business travel is still lagging.