TSA in Anchorage screens more than 50,000 people during Fourth of July holiday weekend

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The 2019 Fourth of July holiday weekend proved to be another record-breaking travel period for the Transportation Security Administration. Nationwide, from July 3 to July 7, more than 11.9 million passengers and crew went through security checkpoints, and more than 8 million checked bags were screened. On Sunday, July 7, TSA experienced its busiest day in history, screening 2,795,014 passengers and crew surpassing the previous record set during the 2019 Memorial Day weekend.

TSA at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) screened more than 50,731 departing passengers and crew from July 3 to July 7. The busiest day locally during the holiday weekend was Sunday, July 7 when 10,872 people were screened. The second busiest day of the holiday weekend was Saturday, July 6 when 10,829 people were screened. During this same five-day period, more than 46,000 checked bags were screened.

TSA projects that departing passenger volumes from ANC will continue to increase. Starting this weekend, TSA projects it will screen an average of 80,000 people a week during the peak summer travel period, which will continue into mid-August.

So far in 2019, passenger volumes statewide have increased slightly, about 1% over last year’s levels. The projected year-over-year increase for the summer months is 6%, well above the national summer travel outlook, which stands at a 4% increase. 

Alaska is a popular destination for tourists during the summer months, leading airlines to utilize larger aircraft with increased passenger capacity in several airports. In addition, airlines have added more flights to further meet the demand in the number of travelers flying in and out of Alaska.

Due to the high volume of travelers, TSA strongly advises people to arrive at the airport two hours prior to flight departure to ensure there is plenty of time to complete each step of the airport arrival, check-in, security process and flight departure process.

To help travelers plan ahead, the busiest days of the week during the summer months at ANC’s security checkpoints are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The busiest time blocks are projected to be:

• 4:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
• 12 noon to 3 p.m.
• 9 p.m. to midnight

Nationally, TSA typically screens about 2.2 million passengers and crew members each day. Passenger throughput over the July fourth holiday travel period surpassed the 2.2 million average every day with the exception of Thursday, July 4.

Eight of the Top 10 busiest days ever in TSA history nationally have occurred during the 2019 summer travel period. Below is a list of the Top 10 busiest days in TSA history:
 

The busiest day ever for TSA at ANC was Saturday, December 22, 2010, when 15,477 people were screened.  The second busiest day for TSA at ANC was Saturday, July 22, 2006, when 12,716 people were screened.