Airlines + Airports U.S. Air Travel Has Dropped Significantly, but Thousands of Flights Are Still Operating (Video) This flight tracker shows how many planes are currently in the sky — including both passenger and cargo planes. By Alison Fox Alison Fox Instagram Twitter Alison Fox is a journalist whose work regularly appears in Travel + Leisure. She has also written for Parents.com, The Wall Street Journal, and amNewYork. She focuses on travel news and feature stories based on personal experiences and interviews. Born in Brooklyn and a lifelong traveler, she developed a love for exploring the world at an early age and hopes to visit every country. * Traveled to 50+ countries * Received a master's degree in journalism from Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University * Received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on March 31, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email Airlines may be slashing their capacity by up to 90 percent while millions of Americans hunker down at home hoping to wait out the coronavirus pandemic, but there are still thousands of planes dotting the U.S. skies, according to reports. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images A graphic from flight tracking site Flightradar24.com posted over the weekend showed while flight traffic has slowed down from the beginning of March, there are still countless planes zooming around the contiguous U.S. In fact, the site said it tracked 2,800 flights over the U.S. at one time on March 29 (compared to 6,800 from March 1). "It would be accurate to say that transatlantic traffic has fallen sharply," Flightradar24.com’s Ian Petchenik told NPR. "U.S. domestic traffic has also fallen significantly, about 40%." Petchenik added: "The U.S. domestic market is so large that even a substantial decrease leaves a lot of traffic in the sky.” The site’s flight tracking does not, however, differentiate between cargo flights and passenger flights, NPR noted. In total, Flightradar24.com recorded more than 74,000 planes in the sky on Monday, compared to more than 194,000 on Feb. 28. The drop comes as airlines cut flight schedules amid the coronavirus pandemic — United Airlines, for example, cut 90 percent of its scheduled flights due to a drop in demand. It also follows several bans affecting travel around the world, including an announcement from the European Union that it would temporarily ban non-essential travel as well as a U.S. ban on travel from Europe. And while Reuters reported on Tuesday Spirit Airlines will cancel flights in and out of the New York tri-state area, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s travel advisory concerning the area, no U.S. state has actually shut down air travel. Although most people have stopped flying, the Department of Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration have implemented measures to make it easier and safer for those who still have to. For its part, the TSA is allowing people to use certain expired driver’s licenses to pass through security, asking people not to place their small personal items like phones and keys on the security belt to avoid contamination, and increasing the carry-on liquid allowance for hand sanitizer to up to 12-ounces. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit