(CTN News) – The United States has established a new record for the number of passengers screened at airports in one day.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspected 2.99 million airline passengers on Sunday, beating the previous record set in May, the agency announced on Monday.
The TSA said it expected traffic to exceed 3 million on Friday, when many Americans begin traveling in preparation for Independence Day on July 4.
The TSA expects to check more than 32 million individuals from Thursday to Monday, a more than 5% increase over the same period last year.
“We expect this summer to be our busiest ever, and summer travel usually peaks over the Independence Day holiday,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said in a statement.
“Compared to last year, we have reduced attrition by nearly half and increased recruiting as a consequence of the TSA Compensation Plan, which was included in the budget authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Biden.
“The traveling population is on the move, which indicates a strong economy. We are prepared, along with our airline and airport partners, to handle the increase in passenger flow.”
This year, the TSA has recorded seven of its ten busiest days in history, as travel recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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