A record number of air travelers are being screened at U.S. airports ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, the Transportation Security Administration said Saturday.
More than 2.9 million travelers were screened at U.S. airports on Friday, surpassing the previous record set on the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year, according to the transportation safety agency.
“Officers set a new record for the number of travelers screened in a single day!” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) tweeted. “We recommend arriving early.”
Thursday marked the third-busiest day ever, when U.S. airports screened nearly 2.9 million travelers.
In Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport had its busiest day ever. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport broke traffic records Thursday as 111,000 passengers, airline crews and airport employees were screened at security checkpoints. Friday was the second-busiest day, with 109,960 people screened, according to the TSA.
Atlanta handled 104.6 million passengers last year, making it the busiest airport in the world, according to Airports Council International.
American Airlines expects record passenger numbers this summer. Their trade group estimates that 271 million passengers will fly between June 1 and August 31, breaking the previous record of 255 million set last summer.
AAA predicts this will be the busiest early summer weekend in nearly 20 years, with 43.8 million people expected to roam at least 50 miles from home from Thursday to Monday, including 38 million in cars.
The annual rush to travel, with the start of the summer travel season, comes at a time when Americans are telling pollsters they are worried about the economy and the direction of the country.
May 30 has long been an annual day to commemorate the fallen, but in 1971, Memorial Day officially became a federal holiday and is held on the last Monday in May.
Jason Redman, a retired Navy SEAL who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told The Associated Press last year that he paid tribute to his lost friend. Thirty names are tattooed on his arm, “in memory of everyone I knew who died.”
