TSA sets new record for number of travelers screened in a single day

The Transportation Security Administration announced it screened more than 2.95 million airline passengers on Friday, setting a new record for a single day.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the agency said Saturday that it screened 2,951,163 individuals at airport checkpoints nationwide on Friday, surpassing the previous record of 2,907,378 set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.

“If you flew yesterday, congratulations, you were part of a record-setting day!” said Lisa Farbstein, a spokesperson for the TSA, in a separate post.

Ahead of the start of 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 Thursday, coming within about 11,000 from the previous record. Five of the 10 busiest-ever travel days have been since May 16, the agency said.

Memorial Day weekend travel is also expected to break records on the roads.

The American Automobile Association, or AAA, warned of potentially unprecedented congestion on roads this weekend, along with airports that could be even more crowded than in years past. The organization, which looks at various economic factors and partners with other groups to project travel conditions, announced earlier this month that an estimated 43.8 million people across the United States would likely travel at least 50 miles from Thursday to Monday. That would mark a 4% increase in overall travel compared with 2023, according to AAA.

“We haven’t seen Memorial Day weekend travel numbers like these in almost 20 years,” said Paula Twidale, the senior vice president of the travel division at AAA, in a statement. “We’re projecting an additional one million travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we’re exceeding pre-pandemic levels but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead.” 

Emily Mae Czachor also contributed to this report.