The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and carriers throughout the United States have announced that they are expecting unprecedented passenger traffic during the Thanksgiving vacation.
The TSA officials anticipate screening 30 million passengers during the vacation season, which runs from Friday, Nov. 17 through Tuesday, Nov. 28. The busiest days will be the Sunday following Thanksgiving and the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
The governmental agency forecasts the screening of 2.6 million passengers on Tuesday, November 21, 2.7 million passengers on Wednesday, November 22, and 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, November 26.
“We expect this holiday season to be our busiest ever,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. “In 2023, we have already seen seven of the top 10 busiest travel days in TSA’s history.”
“We are ready for the anticipated volumes and are working closely with our airline and airport partners to make sure we are prepared for this busy holiday travel season,” Pekoske continued. “I am grateful for our dedicated employees who continue to remain vigilant and focused on the mission during this holiday travel season and beyond.”
The aviation industry consortium, which includes major carriers such as American, Delta, United, and others Airlines for America (A4A)disclosed that approximately 29.9 million passengers are expected to traverse airports from November 17 to 27.
The projected 29.9 million travelers represents an all-time high for the Thanksgiving period and represents a nine percent increase over last year. In addition, this number exceeds the pre-COVID record by 1.7 million passengers.
Airlines for America projects that 3.2 million passengers will use commercial airlines on Nov. 26, and U.S. airlines will offer an average of 253,000 additional seats per day compared to 2022.