WASHINGTON- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced on Saturday that a new record for the number of airline travelers screened at the United States (US) airports was set ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
On Friday, over 2.9 million travelers were screened at U.S. airports, surpassing the previous record set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, according to the TSA.
US Record Passengers
“TSA officers have set a new record for most travelers screened in a single day!” the agency tweeted. “We recommend arriving early.”
Thursday marked the third busiest day on record, with just under 2.9 million travelers screened.
In Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the world’s busiest airport, experienced its busiest day ever on Thursday.
A record 111,000 passengers, airline crew, and airport employees were screened at security checkpoints. The second busiest day followed on Friday, with 109,960 people screened, the TSA reported.
With 104.6 million passengers, Atlanta’s airport was the busiest in the world last year, according to Airports Council International.
Anticipating Record Summer
U.S. airlines anticipate carrying a record number of passengers this summer. Their trade group estimates that 271 million travelers will fly between June 1 and August 31, surpassing the previous record of 255 million set last summer.
AAA predicts this will be the busiest start-of-summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday — 38 million of them by car.
This annual surge in travel coincides with a time when Americans express concerns about the economy and the country’s direction in polls.
Memorial Day, which had long been celebrated on May 30 to honor America’s fallen soldiers, was officially established as a federal holiday in 1971 and is now observed on the last Monday in May.
Jason Redman, a retired Navy SEAL who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, shared with The Associated Press last year that he honors the friends he’s lost by tattooing their names on his arm. He has 30 names inked “for every guy that I personally knew that died.”
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