SAN ANTONIO – More and more people are getting vaccinated and more people are getting comfortable with traveling.
Memorial Day weekend historically is a popular time for families to fly around the country and this year it looked a lot different than in 2020.
“It’s crazy. I haven’t seen this many people in like one place in a while,” Bailey Blanton said.
The Blantons are one of the families excited to get back to traveling for the first time in more than a year and with good reason –- Bailey just graduated high school and is almost set to start college at Texas Tech.
“Well, celebration. Vacation. Yeah, I’m excited and feeling good. Haven’t really left the country or the state in a while,” Blanton said.
Travel has clearly picked up around the country and as well as in the Alamo City.
“Over the five day period, we estimate to have seen approximately 120,000 passengers moving through the San Antonio International Airport,” Jesus Saenz, the director of the San Antonio International Airport said.
While the average over the four day period from Thursday to Sunday is still roughly 18% below 2019 levels, that still means we were at 82% of pre-pandemic numbers, considerably better than last year.
“It’s very favorable when you look at the month of March and April and May, when COVID first hit, and you know, we were seeing 95% reduction of 2019 compared to 2020,” Saenz said.
This past weekend was Memorial Day weekend, a special time both around our country and here in San Antonio. That’s why the airport has a special tribute.
“We must remember our fallen soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to be here,” Saenz said.
The tribute is a missing man table –- and every aspect is symbolic.
“If it’s a pinch of salt, that reminds us of when people, you know, shed tears because we’ve lost loved ones and they’re no longer here with us. Or if it’s just an empty chair that shows, hey, you may no longer be here with us. But one thing for certain, you will never be forgotten,” Saenz said, talking about the tribute.
The tribute is set to stay up until at least Thursday and the airport hoped with more and more people flying more families would see the exhibit.