CDC head warns of "impending doom" as travel bookings rise

American Airlines said Monday that bookings are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels as more people get vaccinated, but public health leaders repeated their concern that travel will spread the virus as new reported infections grow in the United States.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said she had a feeling of “impending doom,” and suggested that virus cases could be about to spike in the United States as they've done in several European countries.

“What we're seeing now is more travel than we saw throughout the pandemic, including the Christmas and New Year's holidays," which were followed by surges in new cases, Walensky said at a White House briefing. “I would just sort of reiterate the recommendations from CDC, saying please limit travel to essential travel for the time being.”

Evidence is growing, however, that Americans are eager to drive or fly somewhere after being mostly cooped up at home for a year.

Gasoline demand is up as more Americans travel by car. At U.S. airports, Sunday marked the 18th straight day of more than 1 million people streaming through checkpoints. That is easily the most prolonged travel rebound during the pandemic, although Sunday's crowds were still 37% below the comparable Sunday in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The strongest travel demand is for domestic and short-haul international trips. American said that as of Friday, its seven-day moving average of net bookings — new trips minus cancellations — was about 90% of bookings during the same period in 2019.

American said strong bookings should continue into the second quarter, which starts Thursday.

As a result, the airline expects to return most of its planes to service in the second quarter after grounding hundreds during the pandemic.

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