It has been a recurring media theme this year that flying is scary again. The U.S. had its first deadly commercial aviation accident in 16 years in January, and DOGE cuts and air-traffic control issues have dominated the headlines:

It doesn’t seem like most people are paying attention to the scaremongers. Air travel has never been more popular.

June 22 was the busiest day for commercial air travel in U.S. history. The TSA screened 3.1 million passengers that day. July 6 was the second-highest day, and July 20, yesterday, was third-highest, both over 3 million.

If it was really getting so much more dangerous to fly, fewer people would be doing it. Instead, it seems like the freak-out over safety under Trump has been confined to the media, while Americans flock to the airports in record numbers.