TSA anticipates record number of air travelers to kick off July 4 holiday

And you thought last summer was busy?

Air travelers are about to break the record for the number of passengers passing through airports in one day. The TSA said that it expected to screen more than 3 million people on June 28, which it said would be the peak travel day for this year’s Fourth of July holiday period. 

The previous record was set just last week, on June 23, when the TSA screened 2.99 million people.

The numbers dovetailed with the annual projection of Fourth of July travel from AAA, which predicted that 5.7 million people would fly to their July 4 destinations, a 7% jump over 2023.

AAA projected that a record 60.6 million people would travel by car over Independence Day week, a 4.8% increase over 2023 and a nearly 10% jump over the same period in 2019. AAA expects 70.9 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home during the period beginning June 29 and ending July 7.

Among the year-over-year differences: Prices at the pump are lower and, according to AAA’s booking data, domestic airfares are about 2% cheaper.

Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel, said it was expecting the week would be “the busiest ever.”

The TSA expects to screen more than 32 million people from Thursday through Monday, July 8. It would be a 5.4% increase over 2023. 

“We expect this summer to be our busiest ever, and summer travel usually peaks over the Independence Day holiday,” TSA administrator David Pekoske said. “The traveling public is on the move, which is a sign of a healthy economy.”

Pekoske said the TSA would be ready to handle the passenger volume. Both the TSA and AAA recommend that flyers show up to the airport at least two hours before their scheduled departure.