US air travel creeps up as ‘zero tolerance policy’ for unmasked passengers extended

More than 500 unruly passenger cases have been referred to the FAA since late December

(Getty Images)

Air travel in the US is showing early signs of a rebound, as thousands flew off for spring break.

Figures from the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) showed that more than 2.5 million passengers passed through American airports over the weekend, as spring break kicked off.

Spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said that the TSA screened more than 1.3 million people on Sunday, a fourth consecutive day where passengers exceeded one million a day.

The last time the TSA screened that number of people was in December 2020.

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It comes as the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) says that it will extend indefinitely its “zero tolerance policy” on unruly air passengers.

Steve Dickson, administrator of the FAA, said the policy would be extended for as long as the mask mandate remains in place.

The majority of the cases relate to passengers breaching the mask order, reports Reuters, with more than 500 unruly passenger cases reported to the aviation watchdog since late December.

US passengers are legally required to wear masks on planes and in airports.