The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it had screened more than 2.95 million airline passengers, setting a new single-day record.
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“If you flew yesterday, congratulations, you were part of a record day!” Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the TSA, said in a separate post.
Mike Stewart/AP
Ahead of the start of the Memorial Day weekend, the TSA predicted that Friday would be the busiest day for air travel, with nearly 3 million people expected to pass through airport checkpoints.
TSA screened just under 2.9 million people on Thursday, which is about 11,000 fewer than the previous record. Five of the 10 busiest travel days on record have been since May 16, the agency said.
Travel is also expected over the Memorial Day weekend breaking records on the roads.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) warned this weekend of potentially unprecedented traffic congestion, including at airports even busier than in recent years. The organization that looks at various economic factors and is working with other groups to project travel conditions, announced earlier this month that an estimated 43.8 million people in the United States are likely to travel at least 50 miles from Thursday to Monday. According to AAA, that would mean a 4% increase in total trips compared to 2023.
“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like this in nearly two decades,” Paula Twidale, senior vice president of the travel division at AAA, said in a statement. “We expect an additional million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we exceed pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.”
Emily Mae Czachor also contributed to this report.
