Aug. 24 (UPI) – According to the Transportation Security Administration, the nation’s airports will see their busiest travel day in history next Labor Day weekend, with the agency expecting 17 million travelers to pass through their checkpoints.
The holiday rush, which runs from Wednesday through Sept. 4, will peak on Aug. 30, when 2.86 million people are expected to be screened, the TSA predicted this week.
“People are traveling more than ever this summer, and TSA, along with our airline and airport partners, are ready to end the busiest summer travel season on record this upcoming Labor Day weekend,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement.
“I want to commend our vigilant employees, from our TSOs on the front lines at airport security checkpoints across the country to those behind the scenes who work hard to keep the transportation system safe – especially as we continue to introduce new checkpoint technologies that improve security effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the passenger experience,” he added.
The TSA is experiencing the highest summer travel volume in its history — about 8.5 percent higher than last year’s total. Since Memorial Day weekend, nearly 240 million people have passed through checkpoints, an average of about 2.7 million per day.
The ten busiest travel days in the travel agency’s history all took place this summer, including July 7, the first day in history with three million travelers.
The airline industry attributes the summer-long travel boom at least in part to historically low airfares.
The industry association Airlines for America points to government data showing that airfares at the start of the summer season were almost 9% lower than in the same period last year, adjusted for inflation. Compared to May 2019, prices have fallen by more than 19%, adjusted for inflation.
In an alert, the TSA reminds travelers that the high passenger volume coincides with the approaching REAL ID deadline. Starting May 7, 2025, all travelers 18 years of age and older will be required to be REAL ID compliant or present a TSA-accepted identification document to fly within the United States.
Passengers who do not have a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or other acceptable form of identification by that date will not be permitted to pass through TSA checkpoints, even on domestic flights.
