America controls 2.95 million passengers in one day

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced it screened 2.95 million airline passengers on Friday, more than ever in a single day.

The travel record coincides with Memorial Day weekend, which marks the beginning of the summer travel season in the United States. Last week, a group representing major U.S. airlines predicted record summer flights. Airlines are expected to carry 271 million passengers, an increase of 6.3% over last year.

Friday's travel broke the record of nearly 2.91 million passengers screened in November, the TSA said. Five of the 10 busiest days have been since May 16, the agency said.

American Airlines said that American airlines will operate more than 26,000 flights daily this summer. This is about 1,400 or 5.6% more than in 2023, when 255 million passengers were carried. Summer travel season forecast applies to the period from June 1 to August 31.

American Airlines said it will increase the number of flights by 10% this summer and expects a 10% increase in passengers during the travel period of May 23-28, Memorial Day — nearly 3.9 million passengers on 36,000 flights.

United Airlines expects 3 million passengers to travel during the Memorial Day travel period, an increase of nearly 10% and the highest number ever recorded during this period.

Delta Air Lines expects passenger numbers to rise 5% to nearly 3 million passengers on Memorial Day weekend between May 23 and 27.

These forecasts come as the Federal Aviation Administration faces an ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers. Some airlines voluntarily canceled flights to New York last summer to address congestion, raising new concerns about a shortage of air traffic controllers.

Airlines can lose take-off and landing rights at crowded airports if they do not use them adequately.

The Federal Aviation Administration extended reductions in minimum flight requirements at New York City area airports through October due to staffing issues, and major airlines last month asked to extend those reductions through October 2025.