CLT air travel spiked over the weekend but deep cuts to flights remain
Charlotte Douglas International Airport on Saturday saw its highest number of departing passengers since late March. In recent weeks, the number of passengers in Charlotte and across the U.S. has taken a dramatic dive thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.
National travel numbers spiked over the weekend too. Friday was the first day since March 26 that the Transportation Security Administration reported seeing more than 200,000 people passing through TSA checkpoints.
The spike could be a growing trend — TSA reported numbers over 200,000 on Sunday and Monday, too.
Still, Monday’s report of 215,645 people passing through TSA checkpoints nationally is down 91% from the 2.5 million reported the same weekday of the previous year.
American Airlines, the Charlotte airport’s dominant carrier, says they are operating fewer than half of the flights scheduled for May 2020.
But American says Saturday, with nearly 13,400 passengers departing CLT, was the highest number of departing passengers the Charlotte airport has seen since March 21.
The spike comes as Mecklenburg County, along with the rest of the state, enters the first phase of a gradual reopening plan. As of Friday evening, many local businesses previously considered non-essential were allowed to reopen under Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan.
Federal help for airports
CLT passenger numbers started dropping in March, when passengers getting on flights at the Charlotte airport dropped to 1.1 million from 2.2 million the year before, according to the airport’s March activity report.
And CLT flights were only 53% full in March, compared to 87% full the previous year, according to the report.
Both American and Charlotte Douglas expect to see money from the federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress in March.
The Charlotte airport will get $135 million in federal funds, to be used for operating and maintenance costs, according to the airport.
And American will receive $5.8 billion from the U.S. Treasury for payroll payments, the company told the airport subcommittee of the Charlotte Community Recovery Task Force on Thursday. American has also applied for $4.7 billion in government loans.
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