US notched record air traveler numbers over Memorial Day Weekend

While box office numbers flagged this Memorial Day weekend, airplane passenger numbers took off, with the TSA reporting a record-breaking 2.95M travelers passing through airport security on Friday — the highest number ever on a single day.

That’s up from the previous record of 2.9M, set on the Sunday after last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, and far surpasses passenger counts seen since 2020 as air travel recovered from a pandemic-era slowdown. It seems now, though, that Americans are back to catching flights in full force.

According to TSA data, the average daily passenger throughput for 2024 so far is 2.36M, some 47% more than that seen for 2021, and similar to the average recorded for full-year 2023 (2.35M)… even before we reach the heights of summer holiday season. Indeed, Airlines for America have forecast that 271M passengers will travel on US airlines between June 1 and August 31 this year, up more than 6% from the previous summer.

Hot air

But as airports prepare for their busiest summer yet, the industry is still grappling with a shortage of some 3,000 air traffic controllers across the US, per the FAA, as well as climate complications that could wreak havoc on weather conditions. Indeed, America is gearing up for another scorching summer, which can, in turn, lead to more extreme weather events — with the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season already predicted to be the most aggressive on record.