Fox News Charles Watson highlights the spike in travel during the holiday weekend from Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Memorial Day kicked off the unofficial start of summer travel more than a year after the pandemic had Americans waiting on standby.
More than 1.65 million people were screened at airports across the United States on Sunday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. That’s an increase of 368% compared with 2020 figures when 352,947 people traveled through airports. More than 1.65 million people were screened at airports across the United States on Sunday. (Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TSA figures show there was a 499% increase in travelers at U.S. airports on Friday alone with 1.95 million traveling compared with numbers from last year on the same day when just 327,133 took flight. And there was a 497% increase on Saturday when around 1.6 million people traveled compared with 268,867 in 2020.
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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has signed into law a bill that law enforcement authorities say will help keep drug-impaired drivers off the road. The new law gives oral fluid (saliva) tests for drugs the same “implied consent” legal standing as the breath and blood tests used to detect alcohol after an arrest. Drivers arrested for DUI will be required to submit to the saliva test or lose their driving .
Gas prices this weekend
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.03 this week. Memorial Day weekend prices have not been this high since 2014, when they averaged $3.65 a gallon.
Prices recently had been slightly higher than the current average, due in part to fuel delivery problems caused by a cyberattack and then shutdown of a major fuel artery, the Colonial Pipeline. Gasoline prices have largely stabilized since that hacking incident, but prices are expected to remain in the $3-per-gallon range during the summer, experts say.
The vaccine rollouthas encouraged a gradual return to normal activities, and a strong labor market is supporting work-related driving, but discretionary driving has room to grow, said Lenny Rodriguez, team lead at S&P Global Platts.