Gallup: Fewer Americans Flew in 2021 Than Any Year Between 2003 and 2015

The friendly skies saw fewer American flyers in 2021 than in any year between 2003 and 2015, according to a Gallup report Thursday (Jan. 6) that points to less travel by employed adults last year.

Those who did fly amidst the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the U.S. and around the world made multiple trips in 2021, although the average was lower than in past years, the report says.

Overall, fewer than four in 10 (38%) U.S. adults who responded to the Gallup survey Dec. 1-16 said they had taken at least one commercial air trip in the past 12 months, lower than between 2006 and 2015, when the average ranged from 43% to 48%. From 2003 to 2005, the average was 40% to 41%.

About 41 percent of employed adults flew in 2021, down from 54% in 2015 and the lowest number Gallup has recorded in this annual survey. A bit more than one-third (34%) of nonworking adults traveled by air last year, up slightly from 2015’s 33% and about the same as every year since 2003.

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) noted that the number of passengers traveling through airport security dipped at the start of the pandemic, from more than 2 million per day to fewer than 100,000 a day in May of 2021.

Related: Fauci: US Should ‘Seriously’ Weigh Vaccine Edict for National Air Travel

Late in December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Biden, said U.S. officials should weigh making vaccinations for COVID-19 a requirement for travelers taking domestic flights. Requiring vaccinations incentivizes more people to go and get the shots, Fauci said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“It’s been considered, but the recommendation I’ve gotten, it’s not necessary,” Biden told ABC News on Dec. 23.

Fauci made a similar suggestion for a mandate in September. The U.S. Travel Association said at the time that, while it believes that vaccines are the “fastest path back to normalcy for all,” it doesn’t endorse a mandate. U.S. passengers are already required to wear masks to board planes and while in-flight, and only can momentarily remove them when eating or drinking.