Yesterday was the busiest day ever at airports in the US, with the @TSA reporting 2,884,783 people screened. It was also an incredibly smooth day of travel with fewer than one-half of one percent of 51,332 scheduled flights canceled. pic.twitter.com/6ZUVmaHyDR
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 27, 2023
TSA Administrator David Pekoske thanked the agency’s employees for their work.
My sincere appreciation to our @TSA employees who worked diligently during the Thanksgiving weekend. Officers screened over 2.9M passengers at airport security checkpoints yesterday – the most ever screened on record. Thank you for always being vigilant & focused on our mission. https://t.co/b5vaCoxJMy
— David P. Pekoske (@TSA_Pekoske) November 27, 2023
Despite recent signs of slowing demand for air travel, eight of the 10 busiest screening days in TSA history have been recorded in 2023. Before Sunday, the busiest day in TSA history was June 30, when nearly 2.9 million passengers were screened.
Despite the crowds and some weather issues, travelers had a relatively smooth Thanksgiving travel period. According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, U.S.-based carriers canceled 201 flights, or 0.2 percent, scheduled between Wednesday and Sunday. However, 16.2 percent of flights were delayed, by an average of 42 minutes.
American Airlines said Sunday was its busiest day of the Thanksgiving travel period, with more than 6,100 departures. It noted that as of Sunday, it had canceled fewer flights than in any other Thanksgiving period in its history. That performance came despite snowy weather in Chicago, where the airline has a hub at O’Hare International.
United Airlines said it carried more than 4.5 million passengers, up nine percent over last year.
Southwest Airlines said it operated more than 20,000 flights between Wednesday and Sunday, carrying more than 2.6 million passengers.
Meanwhile, Baltimore Washington International said Sunday was its busiest day for departing passenger traffic since late 2019.
