Christmas Travel Rebounds Despite Official Handwringing About Omicron

Millions of Americans are traveling home for Christmas this year, despite official handwringing about the need for caution in the face of the new omicron variant. On December 20, some 2.1 million people passed through airport checkpoints according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

That's nearly double the roughly 1 million people who thought it wise to travel on the same day during last year's holiday season, when deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 were at record highs across much of the country. The American Automobile Association (AAA) projects that people traveling over 50 miles from home by all modes will increase 34 percent overall from last year.

AAA says that overall travel is at 92 percent of 2019 levels. Air travel is a bit more suppressed, only bouncing back to about 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

The general picture you get is that the vast majority of Americans are ready to start living normal lives again after putting up with nearly two years of restrictions, mandates, and voluntary caution—omicron be damned.

The return of Christmas travel is even getting the incredibly tepid endorsement of the nation's most consistently cautious public health experts.