Air travel slows as COVID soars in unvaxxed areas

Air travel that appeared to be rebounding postlockdown earlier this year has sagged, with the Transportation Safety Administration screening a 10-week low of 1.6 million passengers on Tuesday.

The TSA “screened 1,607,238 individuals at airport security checkpoints,” the agency said in a tweet, “the lowest checkpoint volume since June 8, when 1,560,561 people came through security checkpoints.”

While the start of the school year in parts of the country accounted for some of the drop in travel, airlines and hospitality companies such as Airbnb have said they suspect the delta variant of coronavirus is deterring other would-be travelers.

At least two-thirds of 1,000 travelers surveyed by market research firm Longwoods International on Aug. 4 said they had postponed plans because of concern over the delta variant. That was up from a quarter of travelers two weeks earlier.

“News of rising numbers [of] infection, hospitalizations and deaths clearly is changing the perception of trip safety for some travelers,” Longwoods President and CEO Amir Eylon said in a statement. “And reports of so-called breakthrough infections among the vaccinated and increasing coronavirus cases among children may also be weighing on travel and travel planning.”

A month ago, 21% of those surveyed said coronavirus would “greatly impact their travel decisions in the next six months,” Longwoods said, a number that jumped to 34% in the latest survey.