A Delta Airlines Boeing 757-251 approaches Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Arlington, Virginia on February 24, 2021.
Daniel Slim | AFP | Getty Images
Air travel over the weekend has reached its highest levels in more than a year as tourists return, raising the prospects of several major airlines.
The Transportation Security Administration on Sunday examined more than 1.34 million people, 86,000 more than on the same day last year, shortly after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic.
That figure was still 45% below 2019 levels, a sign that the airline industry still has a long way to go before recovering from pre-pandemic levels. But TSA projections surpassed one million every day since Thursday, getting the best stretch of a year.
Airlines are increasingly optimistic. Both Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways said Monday that they saw increases in demand in March as more people were vaccinated. The shares of these traders increased by 2% each time in premarket trading. American Airlines rose 3% and United Airlines rose more than 2%.