Officers screened 35 passengers per second as trips surged to a new high on Sunday, July 7.
More than three million people passed through security at U.S. airports on Sunday, the first time that many passengers have been screened in a single day as travel surges, according to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The record, which was widely predicted to happen sometime over the July 4 holiday weekend, surpassed the June 23 mark of more than 2.99 million passengers screened. Eight of the 10 busiest days in TSA history have occurred this year, when the number of travelers exceeds levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TSA was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and replaced a collection of private security firms hired by airlines. The agency reports to the Department of Homeland Security, which said its agents screened 35 passengers per second on Sunday.
As Americans continue to battle inflation, travel costs, including airline tickets and hotel prices, have declined significantly compared with last year. Hotel rooms were 1.2 percent cheaper in May compared with last year, according to recent government inflation data. Those costs have been trending downward since the beginning of the year.
While most U.S. airlines lost money in the first quarter — traditionally the weakest period of the year for travel — all were expecting a summer with full planes.
American Airlines and Southwest Airlines said they expected solid second-quarter earnings. They joined Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in offering an upbeat outlook for the April-June period, which includes the start of the peak season for airlines.
Delta reports second-quarter results Thursday, with analysts expecting sales of $15.5 billion, up nearly $1 billion from the same period a year earlier. Next week, United and American will report quarterly results, with Wall Street expecting higher revenue than a year ago for both airlines.
The growing congestion on planes since the pandemic paralyzed travel four years ago has brought with it a problem for airlines: complaints.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said last week that it received nearly 97,000 complaints in 2023, up from 86,000 the year before. The department said there were so many complaints that it took until July to sort through the reports and compile the numbers.
That's the highest number of airline complaints since 2020, when airlines were slow to issue refunds to customers after the pandemic shut down air travel.
