More than three million people passed through airport security across the United States on July 7, 2024, during the Independence Day holiday period, breaking the record for the number of passengers screened in a single day, according to the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The agency said around 35 passengers passed through the nation’s TSA check points every second.
As predicted by TSA officials, the Fourth of July holiday weekend surpassed all previous travel records in the country. The previous record, which saw more than 2.99 million passengers pass through security, was captured on June 23, 2024.
According to the American Automotive Association (AAA), a total of 70.9 million travelers were heading around 80 kilometers or more from home over the nine-day holiday period, which ran between June 29 and July 7, 2024.
Projected passenger numbers increased by 5% in 2024 compared to the 2.6 million passengers seen in 2023.
On June 24, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took to X (formerly Twitter) to remind passengers that the holiday period was set to be busy. The agency forecasted 30,342 flights on July 4, 2024, and 45,958 flights on July 5, 2024. The FAA noted that June 27, 2024, was set to be the busiest day for US airlines, with more than 53,677 scheduled flights.
Based on AAA booking data, the most popular domestic destinations were Seattle, Orlando, Anchorage, Honolulu, and Miami. For international locations travelers chose to jet off to Vancouver, London, Rome, Dublin, and Paris.