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Airline passengers at an all-time low amid COVID-19 pandemic

Posted at 9:44 PM, Apr 07, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-07 23:26:02-04

LAFAYETTE — When it comes to air travel the numbers are way down. Lafayette Regional Airport remains open, but passengers say they were only one of a handful on their flight.

"A lot of empty seats, me in my own row for the most part," Collin Acord said.

Acord flew to Lafayette from Maine for work. His last flight had a whopping total of 17 passengers. He says even on the larger planes, there was more room than usual.

"They weren't serving any food or drinks, that was different, usually you get a water or a snack" Acord added.

According to data from the TSA, nationwide on April 6th, there were just over 108,000 passengers screened. One year ago, 2.3 million passengers were screened.

Lafayette Regional Airport reportedthat in February they had more than 18,000 passengers. In March they had 9,000.

"I can see it, I can definitely see where the numbers are coming from," Acord

For some passengers, the empty airports are a huge awakening.

"This quarantine is real, everything is really happening. At first I thought the media was projecting this to a level it didn't need to be vaulted to, but now you keep reading, and you find out this is really bad," Troy Doucet said.

The effects are also visible on air traffic. A timelapse from Airnav Radar Box, shows air traffic on March 5th compared to April 2nd. Watch it by clicking here.