Issue Summary

On Wednesday, Nov. 25, the day before Thanksgiving, close to 1.1m Americans took to the skies. And in one respect, that marked a sign of progress for the U.S. airline industry: It was its busiest day since mid-March. But in other respects, last week’s traffic bump only reinforced the gravity of the Covid catastrophe: During last year’s Thanksgiving peak, more than double that number of passengers flew. Extending beyond the immediate concerns of airlines, furthermore, was the risk of mass travel making America’s current public health emergency even worse. It’s an invisible tragedy to many, happening behind the closed doors…