MEMPHIS, Tennessee — The Thanksgiving holiday began over the weekend for many Americans and despite warnings by health experts not to gather this year, traveling saw a bump since the beginning of the pandemic.
At the start of the holiday week on Friday, more than one million people flew nationally according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). That number clocked in about one-and-a-half million less than on the same day in 2019.
It's still the second highest number of travelers since the start of the pandemic back in March.
At Memphis International Airport, it would normally be one of its busiest 11 day stretches of the year.
Final numbers for MEM haven't been reported by the TSA yet but the airport was expected to screen under 12,500 people from Friday through Sunday. Airport spokesman Glen Thomas said that's a 50% drop after record highs in 2019.
“We’ve really been trending around that 50% mark for the past couple months so it’s not all that surprising because it’s really continuing a trend that began in the summer as travel recovered a little bit," Thomas said.
Following the weekend, Monday morning was much quieter at MEM with lines never really backing up for fliers.
One family sporting Mickey Mouse ears said they were boarding a flight to Orlando. It was the first time they were taking a family vacation for Thanksgiving rather than gather for the holiday.
Memphis International anticipates Wednesday (11/25) and Sunday (11/29) will be the next two busiest days for the holiday. All together, it expects to screen 40,000 people through the 11 day stretch.
For more information on the airports COVID-19 protocols click here.
