WASHINGTON, USA – During the Labor Day holiday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened 8.76 million travellers between Friday, September 2 and Monday, September 5. The weekend travel volume represents 102 percent of volume for the same pre-pandemic holiday weekend in 2019 and is the first time that a holiday weekend passenger screening volume exceeds that of 2019.
In 2019, Labor Day was on Monday, September 2, and TSA screened 8.62 million passengers. The Labor Day weekend represents the conclusion of the summer travel season. This year, Friday marked the heaviest travel day. Transportation Security Officers screened 2.48 million passengers.
Over the course of the long weekend, 94.9 percent of TSA PreCheck® passengers waited less than 5 minutes. About 91.6 percent of those passengers in standard screening lanes waited less than 15 minutes.
Intercepted firearms
During the weekend, transportation security officers intercepted 67 firearms and prevented them from entering aircraft passenger cabins. On average, TSA stopped 17.3 firearms each day at checkpoints since the beginning of the year. If this pace continues, TSA anticipates that firearm catches at checkpoints will eclipse the current full year-record of 5,972 firearms intercepted at the nation’s checkpoints in 2021.
“TSA’s highly trained and dedicated workforce facilitated secure travel for millions of passengers during the busy summer travel season with very little disruptions at the checkpoint,” said TSA acting administrator David Pekoske. “We were also able to continue the deployment of new technologies that facilitate stronger identity verification procedures and enhanced security screening for carry-on bags.”
Through effective collaboration among airlines and airports within the transportation sector and with more than 12 million TSA PreCheck passengers enrolled, TSA actively monitored and managed wait times at airport security checkpoints. It is never too late to enroll and participate in the benefit of the expedited TSA PreCheck screening program that allows travellers to leave on shoes, jackets, and belts, and enables them to keep their electronics and 3-1-1 liquids in their carry-on bags. As a result of these benefits, TSA PreCheck lanes move faster and more efficiently than regular lanes.
As travellers prepare to embark on future trips, they may submit questions about TSA checkpoint procedures via Twitter at @AskTSA or via Facebook Messenger to a team of TSA employees who provide real-time responses on average within five minutes from 8:00 am-6:00 pm daily, including weekends and holidays.
