TSA predictions came true as Sunday’s numbers smashed the agency record for the busiest air travel day ever. The security agency screened exactly 2,907,378 travelers on Sunday, November 26th, 2023. The previous record was set on June 30, 2023 with 2,884,783 travelers.
It was expected to be the busiest holiday travel season on record after TSA reported 10 of the highest volume travel days recorded just in this year! With 2,736,067 screened passengers the day before Thanksgiving, 2,605,274 the following Saturday and Sunday’s nearly three million record breaking number, let’s just say this year’s holiday travel predictions were correct.
“This year we are seeing more people flying than ever with fewer cancellations than we’ve seen in years and we’re investing to make sure it stays that way long term,” recently said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. According to FlightAware, 55 flights were canceled and around 8,000 were delayed on Sunday.
And though the height of Thanksgiving travel has passed, we still have more holidays ahead. December travel traffic is expected to be another crazy volume month. As of now, AAA has not released their 2023 passenger predictions. Last year they expected nearly 113 million Americans to travel between December 23 to January 2 (7.2 million of them via aircraft).
According to NerdWallet, since Christmas Day falls on a Monday this year, Tuesday, December 26th might be the most expensive day to return home. Moreover, they predict the preceding Friday (December 22nd) to be one of the busiest travel days during that holiday period.