WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration saw a record-breaking number of travelers during the end-of-year holiday period that included Christmas and New Year’s travel, screening more than 43.8 million passengers and crew members during the holiday travel period, from Dec. 19 to Jan. 5, an increase of 4% from the holiday period of 2018.
On the busiest day, Friday, December 27, more than 2.6 million travelers passed through TSA security checkpoints nationwide. Typically, TSA screens about 2.1 to 2.2 million travelers on an average weekday.
“TSA officers as well as law enforcement and industry partners worked long hours during the holiday period to ensure safe and secure holiday travel,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “Our checkpoints were fully staffed and many officers worked overtime to screen millions of passengers on their way to and from their holiday destinations.”
Prior to the holiday travel period, TSA reminded passengers to get to the airport early enough to allow time to check in and get through the security screening process; pack smart and use TSA tools like the MyTSA app or use the “What can I bring?” on tsa.gov; to obtain or renew TSA Pre✓® membership; and to be aware of the upcoming deadline for REAL ID enforcement beginning Oct. 1.
Despite the volume, 99.8% of all passengers nationwide waited less than 30 minutes in a checkpoint line and 99.1% of passengers who were in a TSA Pre✓® lane waited less than 10 minutes in a security checkpoint line.