TSA Screens 800,000 At US Airports In A Day, Making Airline Stocks Lift

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported that it served over 800,000 individuals at American airport screening lanes Sunday (Aug. 9), the first occasion since March 17, and major U.S. air carrier stocks were on the uptick Monday (Aug. 10) on the news, Reuters reported.

For example, American Airlines Group stock rose 8.2 percent in trading during the middle of Monday. Shares in the company closed out the day at $14, up some 7.5 percent on the day.

On Sunday (Aug. 9), the TSA said it had served 831,789 individuals, marking a drop of approximately 70 percent compared to the past year. At that time, approximately 2.5 million individuals were served.

The biggest 20 airlines in the country transported just over 16 million travelers in June, which marked an 80 percent drop compared to June 2019 yet almost two times as many people as May.

As PYMNTS reported, the already slow recovery in aviation recently hit a rough patch last month. The number of people who moved through airport security checkpoints domestically dropped by over 4 percent in the week concluding July 19, per TSA-compiled data.

An overall 4,648,156 passengers moved through airport gates between July 13 and July 19 compared to 4,861,420 travelers the TSA registered in the week concluding July 12.

But the number of passengers who passed through American airports at the beginning of July increased by almost two times from the prior month.

An overall 3.3 million travelers went through TSA checkpoints in the first five days of July, marking an increase in excess of 90 percent from the same period the prior month and over five times the number registered over April’s first five days.

Separately, the global aviation space, grappling amid lockdowns, was increasingly looking to governments for financial support, per news in March. Many air carriers were concerned that they would run out of funds fully without any more coming in as travel was falling.