Domestic air travel is 55% below pre-pandemic levels
12 March 2021
Data: TSA; Chart: Axios Visuals
Passenger traffic at U.S. airports remains far below normal, but growing vaccination rates and an improving economy are leading to pent-up demand for travel, experts say.
Where it stands: A year into the pandemic, domestic air travel is 55% below pre-pandemic levels, while international travel is down 71%.
- Delta Air Lines is the only U.S. carrier still blocking middle seats as a way to limit capacity (through April).
- Meanwhile, Emirates Air now lets Economy Class customers pay $55 per empty seat to avoid sitting next to a stranger.
What to watch: Surveys show there's a growing willingness to travel once the virus is contained, according to the International Air Transport Association.
- But government quarantines are "a showstopper," says the group's CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.
- Global airlines are pushing for countries to enact a standardized digital health pass that would allow travelers to present their vaccine or COVID-19 testing status before boarding.
- Over 130 countries today require a negative COVID test to fly.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.