Travelers waiting for TSA screening at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says it screened an average of 35 passengers nationally per second on July 7, a pace the agency says enabled it to effectively handle a record number of passengers moving through security checkpoints at U.S. airports.
TSA screened a total of just over 3 million passengers nationally in a single day for the first time on July 7, the Sunday after the Independence Day holiday in the U.S. The agency had predicted it would handle that level of passengers and said it was prepared.
TSA has routinely been breaking records for total passengers screened since mid-May as summer travel demand in the U.S. has remained hot.
“TSA fully, unerringly and efficiently checked 35 passengers every second, along with all their luggage and carry-on baggage, while demonstrating unwavering professionalism and respect for travelers during the intensely busy holiday weekend,” U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says in a statement.
Despite the heavy traffic at U.S. airports, there were no reports over the holiday weekend of significant delays related to passenger volumes.
Mayorkas, under whose purview TSA falls, says the security agency’s “workforce attrition has been cut in half” and “recruitment rates are rising” since Congress increased TSA screener pay in 2023.
He adds that “record-breaking travel spurred by our nation’s strong economy [is] expected to continue in the months ahead.”
Paulos Ashebir Lakew, a regional director of market analysis at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in May at Aviation Week Network’s GAD Americas conference that low unemployment rates in advanced economies will continue to drive consumer spending, which will keep air travel demand strong at least through the rest of 2024.
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